A Dragon's Damsel
by SingedByDragons
Summary: Lucy and Natsu have always been a team. Now, that Natsu is finally 21, they can finally becoming more. However, thanks to basic human jealousy, crazy dragon slayer rituals, Natsu's oblivious nature, Lucy's determination in missing the obvious, and your ever present villain who decides to crash the party, their road to romance is bumpy, blocked and rerouted.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Gajeel sat at the bar and watched the door. Levy wasn't there that day. She'd been on a mission for a few weeks now and every day she was gone was like torture. He really needed to get this whole thing straightened out. It couldn't be good that he was repressing his mating instincts so forcefully. It wasn't like it was a surprise or anything. According to Lily, everyone knew.

Sighing, he rubbed his eyes and finished off his drink. Yeah, he'd deal with it soon enough. He just needed to make sure that she felt the same way. He wasn't too sure how to do this or anything. Perhaps he could talk to Mira about holding some weird contest or something, or maybe a dance. He hated dancing, but if the shrimp was there and he figured out a way to get her alone, he might be able to reveal something. Enough for her big brain to figure it out and then if he were lucky, she'd say it first. Once he had that reassurance, he'd be ready to move forward with the whole mating ritual.

Deciding that this was as good a plan as any, he stood to go find Mira when Happy came barreling into the guild hall.

"Take cover!" The blue exceed yelled out. "They're at it again!" A collective groan filled the room as an arguing Lucy and Natsu came through the door. Most of the time Gajeel would just snort and move on with his life. He couldn't care less what those two did with their personal lives. He considered them friends, but their decisions usually didn't affect him personally, so he usually didn't care what happened. However, a breeze brought their scents over to Gajeel and he stiffened at something in Natsu's.

Gajeel watched as they made their way to a table. Paying attention now, Gajeel became aware that Lucy was arguing with Natsu about his treatment of their last client.

"But Natsu, he did nothing wrong! He just asked me out on a date. What's wrong with that?"

"It's just not professional! Think how it looks if the guild members started dating their clients?"

"Seriously Natsu? It wasn't like I'd say yes, but it was sweet and all you had to do was glare at the guy. You didn't have to push him away from me and grab my arm, marching me to the station. That is the part I'm angry about."

"How was I supposed to know you'd say no?"

"Because I do understand how it'd look you idiot! Besides, I didn't like him like that. So, just promise me that you won't react like that again and you'll just trust me next time." Natsu glared up at Lucy, but finally nodded, as Gajeel smiled. Little did Lucy know that it wasn't that Natsu didn't trust her, he was just beginning to claim his own mate.

So, their Natsu was finally 21 huh? Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later since he hadn't died yet. Yep, life just got interesting, especially since this meant that another male dragon slayer was in the process of trying for him mate. If Gajeel was lucky enough, his instincts would strengthen at Natsu's scent. Instincts, you had to love them. It wasn't like Natsu was trying for Levy, but he was another dragon slayer trying to claim his mate. That should send Gajeel's instincts into overdrive, hopefully causing him to stop being a coward when it came to his feelings.


	2. Chapter 1

Hey Guys!

Singed here.

So, I'm going to try to post twice a week, but if not, then definitely once a week. I'll keep you all updated. Also, you may notice that Natsu or Lucy might do or say something slightly out of character, but I was under the mindset that they'd matured a bit before this story began. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and reviews are welcomed as well!

I don't own Fairy Tail.

* * *

3 Months Later

"Man I'm beat," Natsu yelled as he crashed onto Lucy's couch. Lucy just rolled her eyes and sighed. Normally, at this late hour, she'd tell the dragon slayer to leave and go to his own house, but she was far too tired herself and she wanted the company, although she'd never admit it. She was feeling the need to surround herself with friends lately, possibly because she was turning twenty in a month, possibly because she'd just found out that her childhood home had just been bought and then demolished, possibly because they had barely gotten back from a successful mission just in time for her to pay rent, and possibly because Levy and Gajeel had just tied the knot and Lucy hadn't been present.

That was where they'd just come from, the belated reception celebration. It all started when Lucy and Natsu had returned from a job that day, to find Fairy Tale in a jovial mood.

"What's going on?"

"Yeah, is everyone drunk again?" Natsu had asked. "Hey you guys promised to only do that if I was here!" Natsu immediately ran forward to start a fight, but everyone was in too good of a mood to be baited so easily.

"Lucy!" Mirajane yelled from the bar.

"Mira, what is going on, why is everyone so happy?"

"Probably because of the wedding."

"Wedding?!" Lucy immediately sat and started running through all of the happy couples of Fairy Tale and wondered who was going to be tying the knot soon. "Oh I love weddings! When is it? Who's the happy couple?"

"Oh…, well, perhaps they should tell you themselves." Mirajane smiled sheepishly and Lucy sat back in confusion. Mira was embarrassed. Why was she embarrassed?

"Lucy!" Levy called from the doorway. "You're finally back!"

"Levy!" Lucy jumped off the stool to race towards her second best friend. Natsu was her first, although she never admitted to it. She didn't have to, everyone already knew. Levy hugged Lucy as she raced towards her. The hug was short as Lucy pulled away and stared into her face.

"So, tell me Levy, I have to know! Who's getting married?"

"Married?" Natsu exclaimed, coming up right behind Lucy. "Who?"

"Oh, well," Levy took a step back, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head and blushing deeply. "W… they actually are married already."

"What!" Both Natsu and Lucy exclaimed in unison.

"We missed it?" Natsu whined.

"But how?" Lucy exclaimed. "No one was even engaged when we left four days ago."

"Levy," Natsu said, taking both of her shoulders into his grip, "you have to tell us. Who? When and …" Suddenly he was punched so hard that he flew across the room and into the wall, unconscious by the time he hit the ground.

"Natsu!" Lucy screamed racing towards the groaning dragon slayer. "Are you okay?"

Natsu looked up with death in his eyes at the one who punched him, being both angry and confused. Lucy turned to see Gajeel standing in front of Levy, protectively. Levy looked mortified and was trying to stop Gajeel as he stormed forward.

"If you touch her again, I swear you're dead fire breather!"

"Gajeel," Levy yelled. "He didn't mean anything by it! You need to calm down!"

"Yeah Gajeel," Lucy said, standing in front of Natsu as he slowly stood up. "He didn't do anything."

"Bunny girl, the only reason I'm not pummeling you for standing in front of my rival is because your Levy's friend, but make no mistake that if Natsu makes a wrong move in the next five seconds, I won't hesitate." Levy screamed in rage and hit Gajeel hard, causing her to double over in pain.

"Levy!" Gajeel instantly forgot the two before him and knelt beside her. "Are you okay, what happened?"

"You did you jerk! Just leave! Now! I'll be home later." Gajeel looked hurt and then mad, but he stepped outside. He didn't really leave, he just stood in the doorway watching.

"I see," Natsu finally said, coming around Lucy, who was still in shock at having been threatened so forcefully by a guild mate.

"See what Natsu?"

"Levy, I'll let you talk to Lucy. You deserve to tell her."

"Natsu, you know?" Levy sounded surprised, and a bit apprehensive.

"Yeah, if his behavior didn't give it away, your scent sure does. You reek of iron dragon slayer." Levy blushed deeply and Natsu began walking towards the doorway.

"Natsu, where are you going?" Lucy asked, still concerned over him.

"To have a talk with Gajeel. I understand why he did what he did, but he needs to understand that if he threatens you like that again, it will be him in the hospital. You're my partner Lucy. That makes you my closest family." Lucy blushed as he continued to storm out and Lucy sighed. She hated it when he got so adorably protective. He really needed to stop. She'd already come to terms with her feelings for him, but she'd also come to understand that Natsu didn't feel that way about her.

"Lucy," Levy said, bringing her back, "let's go talk."

* * *

"So then, you're married?" Lucy asked, more disappointed than she ever thought she could be. She'd missed Levy's wedding! How could Levy not wait for her?

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"What does that mean?"

Levy sighed and gave Lucy a book. "Here. I did a lot of reading the last few days and I think that this should help explain things. But what I can tell you is this. It is a form of marriage, stronger actually. See, dragon slayers, when they come of age, they begin to search for their mates. How these mates are chosen, no one is sure. There are three major theories, but I think it might be a mixture of all three."

"What theories?"

Levy sighed and looked guilty again. "Well, I'll go over it briefly, but the book will go into more detail. Basically, it is thought that perhaps a mate is chosen by complementary pairing, so if the mate's magic will complement the dragon slayer's, making him or her stronger somehow, then they can be a possible mate. Another possibility is that the mate is chosen for the possible strength in the children produced. Dragon slayers have heightened senses, so maybe they know who carries the best genes for their future children. And the third is that a basic bond must already be there, and that timing and other elements, such as age and basic attraction fills in the rest. Like I said though, I think it's all three."

"But Levy, this still doesn't explain how you and Gajeel are already married … mated? I don't know." Lucy put her head in her arms and looked up at her friend who looked truly sad.

"I know Lucy. I never wanted to hurt you. See, if I'd known what my actions would have done, I would have waited, but everything happened so fast."

"Levy, just start from the beginning."

"Okay, sorry. See, I'd read that the dragon mating ceremony has three parts. They must be done in order and all three parts must happen or the bond is incomplete, which leads to dire consequences on both parties and …"

"Levy, the point."

"Oh, sorry. Well, part one is a general admission of love and affection for the other member. Both must feel this, it must be mutual, and it must be public, as public as you can possibly make it. If both parties agree to it, then well, you have the immediate start of a bond. The second part happens directly after the declaration of love. The dragon slayer marks his or her mate with a special symbol." Here Levy held up her hand, on the inside of the wrist was what appeared to be two nails making an x. "Once the mark is made, a second identical one forms on the dragon slayer."

"Did it hurt?"

"No, it just appeared at his touch. There was a tingling sensation, but that was about it."

"Oh, what about the third part?"

"The third part is well," Levy suddenly grew quiet and blushed so red that Lucy blanched and shook her head and hands.

"Ewww! Okay, I get the picture, adult fun time. I'm still not sure how this all happened."

Levy shrugged and sighed. "It's simple really. Gajeel and I were in a miserable fight three days ago. He was angry that I was thinking of going on another mission with my old team without him, just for old times' sake. I was feeling restless and I needed a change, mostly because I was fed up with loving Gajeel so much and not knowing if he felt the same. It was becoming quite the spectacle and I swear most of the guild stopped by to watch us fight. Finally he broke the table between us and yelled something like why I was trying to get rid of him. I can't quite remember his words, but mine I'll never forget. 'What are you talking about you big oaf? I'm not trying to get rid of you! I just need some time to myself because I love you so much that it hurts!'"

"You said that?"

Levy laughed and nodded. "Yep. As soon as I did, the entire guild got quiet and I swear I could hear the air being sucked out of the room. I was so embarrassed that I turned to leave when he said, 'Well, sometimes my love for you hurts too, but that doesn't mean that I want to go anywhere without you.' I turned and looked at him. He just looked back at me and I'm pretty sure that Elfman and half of the others were eating popcorn and crying."

"They would," Lucy exclaimed, rolling her eyes.

"Anyway, I said, 'You love me?' and he nodded. 'Yeah, I do.' He said. So he crossed over to me and kissed me. I swear that the guild went crazy. It was like we had actually been at a wedding. Well, that was when Master Makarov explained what was going on, that technically we were married by dragon slayer law, which Gajeel confirmed later. I was horrified, pleased, but horrified. I didn't want to get married without you or an actual wedding, but there I was. Later that night, Gajeel told me that I needed to make my final decision there and then. Confused, I asked him what he meant and he said that we were only half bound. If I allowed him to mark me and we mated, then there was no going back. There was no going back for him regardless, but I could still get out, I just couldn't allow the other parts to happen."

"Obviously you decided to stay."

"Yeah," Levy said blushing. "I really do love him and I do want to be his wife, so we finished the bond as it were. Unfortunately, I hadn't realized how strong the side effects were going to be for him."

"Side effects?"

"Yeah, it's in the book, but you don't think that display earlier was his normal disposition did you?" Levy pointed to where Gajeel still stood outside the guild watching. Natsu stood near him, watching Lucy and she sighed.

"I see. Well, I'm happy for you Levy. Really I am!"

"Thanks! And don't worry! I insisted on waiting till you were back to have the reception."

"Really?! Thanks Levy, when is it?"

"Tonight!" Mirajane called from the bar and Lucy smiled, hugged Levy and raced out of the guild.

"Hey where you going?" Natsu called as Lucy ran out the door.

"I'm going home. I have a party to prepare for!"

"Wait, I'm coming too!" Natsu had yelled racing after her.

"Go home Natsu! You have your own place to prepare at!"

"Aww, but Lucy your shower is so much better!" Of course Natsu went home briefly to get a change of clothes, but he still insisted on showering at her place. She really didn't mind because it had taken her years to get him to see the necessity for showering in the first place. She had picked a simple dress, one that was her favorite shade of blue and hugged her figure well, but she called Cancer out to do her hair.

"You look perfect, baby!" He said giving her a thumbs up. Her hair had been slightly curled and pulled back in such a way that it cascaded down her back.

"Perfect as always!" He disappeared with a flash and Lucy was standing when Natsu came out of the bathroom wearing a dark blue dress shirt and black pants. He wore his sandals and scarf like always, but Lucy's breathe still caught. He was just too hot for his own good.

"Do I look okay?" He asked, looking behind her at the mirror.

"Yeah, you look great," Lucy said smiling up at him. He grinned back and walked over to her.

"Well you definitely look more like a girl tonight than you normally do, so that's good right?" Lucy simply punched him in the head and walked out, with him complaining behind her, rubbing his head. He just would never get it. The party was great and Lucy was on the dance floor more than she was off. Loke and Gray were her partners most of the night, but Natsu had surprised her when suddenly, he grabbed her by the arm and swung her into a fast dance. It was a lot of fun, and Lucy was laughing by the end.

"That was fun!" Lucy said, as the music changed to a slow dance.

"Yeah," Natsu said, pulling her in closer to lead her through a waltz.

"Natsu! When did you learn to dance?"

Natsu grinned down at her and shrugged. "I can't tell you all my secrets?"

"Well, I'm just glad that you decided to dance. It's nice to do something with you besides fight monsters and run for our lives."

"Yeah, but really, I just didn't like how Loke and Juvia were looking at you." He nodded towards Loke and then to Juvia. Loke had another girl in his arms already, but occasionally he kept sending her a wink or two, and Juvia was speaking to Gray as she shot death her way. Lucy shivered and Natsu laughed, when Lucy caught a glimpse of Lisanna. She was glaring at them and Lucy looked away slightly embarrassed, but also ridiculously pleased. She liked Lisanna, she really did, but she loved Natsu and was happy any time he chose her over Lisanna.

Thinking back on the whole thing, it confused Lucy a bit as to why Lisanna was trying to make a claim on Natsu all of a sudden. It was like one day three months or so ago, Lisanna decided that Natsu was meant to be with her and had tried everything short of actually asking Natsu out to steal his attention. However, that dance on that night was not the time to dwell on such concerns. So, putting Lisanna on the back burner, Lucy had allowed Natsu to dance her into bliss.

The night had ended shortly after their slow dance and now they were back at her place. Lucy dropped next to Natsu and sighed, looking over at him. He turned and smiled at her.

"So you happy you made rent?"

"Of course I am! One more month covered. Someday though, I hope to have a house. Nothing large like I grew up in, just comfortable, for me and my husband and probably a few kids."

"Huh?" Lucy looked over at his confused gaze and laughed.

"Natsu! What did you just assume I'd live here forever?"

"Well, not forever. But what's with this talk of husbands and kids all of a sudden?"

"Well I am turning twenty in a month Natsu! I'm bound to start thinking of it, besides, someday someone is hopefully going to want to marry me. Or I suppose I'm just too ugly, right?"

"You're not ugly." Lucy looked over at Natsu, to see his confused, angry face.

"Hey, Natsu I was only kidding."

"Yeah, I just worry that maybe you took all those things Gray, Happy, and I've said over the years to heart. You're not ugly Lucy, not even close. And, well, all of the guys we've met so far aren't even close to being good enough for you, so they'll have to go through me." Lucy's heart warmed, but it stung a little too. He was acting like a protective older brother. She wanted a jealous boyfriend, but she'd take what she could get.

"Thanks Natsu," she said leaning in and kissing him on the cheek. She'd done it a few times within the past year when he'd done something particularly nice or charming. There was a sudden shock of static electricity between them and Lucy jumped back, laughing.

"Sorry Natsu, I guess it's the dress. It likes to cling. I'm going to bed. I imagine that you'll be sneaking back in later to use my bed even though you have a perfectly useful hammock at home."

Natsu was quiet for a moment and when Lucy looked back at him confused, she saw him staring off into space. "Natsu?"

"What?" He asked, shaking his head.

Sighing, Lucy walked over to him and pulled him up. "Come on, if you're that drunk, I might as well just march you to the bed myself. I'll take the couch."

"Aww come on Lucy, I like your bed better when you're there!" Lucy blushed furiously and sighed.

"Thanks Natsu, but you shouldn't say that to girls, they'll get the wrong ideas."

"What ideas?" Lucy walked into her bathroom to change and called out.

"That you like them, or that you want to sleep with them."

"But I do want to sleep with you! You're comfortable!" Taking a deep breath and trying not to let him affect her, she walked out, seeing that he'd already changed and was sprawled out. He was shirtless and wore only his lose fitting pants. Lucy really didn't want to be tempted right then, so she walked towards the couch.

"I'm not talking about that kind of sleeping, Natsu."

"Oh," Natsu said, finally understanding. He'd matured, a little, over the years and for that Lucy was grateful.

"Good night Natsu," she called, curling up on the couch.

"Night Lucy," he called from her room. It took Lucy longer than she wanted to fall asleep. She finally did when Natsu, who seemed to have his own trouble sleeping, snuck into the living room and scooped her up gently before returning to the bed and curling around her. She fell fast asleep then and if his easy, rhythmic breathing said anything, so did he.


	3. Chapter 2

Hi Again,

So, here is the next installment. Things are starting to pick up and the overarching plot will begin to be seen within this chapter.

As always, I hope you guys like it and if you have any questions, just leave a comment and reviews are always welcome!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

* * *

"Natsu, wake up!" Happy's shrill voice called from over their heads. Lucy opened her eyes and sighed. From the light streaming through the window, it was obviously close to noon, but they'd been at the reception until two in the morning.

"Happy," Lucy whined, her voice cracking with sleep. "The party went really late and we just came back from a job. Just let us sleep." Lucy turned her face into her pillow and felt Natsu pull the blankets up over their heads. He left his arm draped around her and she sighed. He really did feel wonderful.

"Yeah Happy, do what Lucy says. I'm sure she has some fish in the refrigerator." Lucy actually didn't, but if it got Happy out then it was fine by her.

"But Natsu! Lisanna told me that I had to find you, she's worried you forgot about your lunch!" Natsu sighed as Lucy's eyes snapped open. Lunch?

"Yeah, she's right, I did forget." Natsu started stretching and Lucy stood up, hoping that in his tired haze he couldn't hear her rapid heartbeat. She marched into the bathroom after picking up a shirt and skirt, and started brushing her hair and teeth, listening to Natsu and Happy.

"So your Lisanna's messenger now huh?"

"When she promises me fresh fish for a week I am. Besides Natsu, how could you forget? She said you made the plans yesterday."

"I forgot because I really wasn't paying attention."

"Why not? Were you eating?" Lucy giggled at that, she had been thinking the same thing.

"No, I was listening to Levy tell Lucy how her and Gajeel became mates. To be honest I don't even remember what we talked about, just that Lisanna kissed my cheek as she walked away and Gajeel sneered at me." Lucy's heart stopped and then sped up all the more quickly. Lisanna kissed Natsu? Well she did it too, but …

"Why'd he do that?"

"The guy's crazy, how should I know. Anyway, I asked him the same question, and he just told me that he didn't understand why I was doing that to myself. When I asked him what he was talking about, he told me that I'd just agreed to have lunch with Lisanna the next day."

"Natsu, you are hopeless! Now come on, Lisanna is waiting for you at the guild."

"Okay, okay, just give me a second." Lucy heard Happy fly out the window as she slipped into her top for the day. Her heart was pounding and she felt tears in her eyes. She knew that Lisanna liked Natsu, always had, always will, but from what Levy told her, everyone also knew that Lucy _loved_ Natsu. Lucy tried not to hide it, after all it was true, the only person who hadn't figured it out was Natsu himself. But if that were true then that meant that Lisanna knew and even though it was perfectly natural for Lisanna to try and win his affections, this still felt like a betrayal.

"Hey!" Natsu's voice shocked her out of her thoughts and she spun to see him in the doorway, staring at her.

"I thought you were going to meet Lisanna?"

"I am, but I heard your heart racing and I wanted to come in and check on you. Hey, are you crying?" Lucy suddenly realized that there were some tears in her eyes and she quickly wiped them away.

"Yeah, sorry. I stubbed my toe pretty hard."

"Oh, jeez Lucy, you're such a klutz! Be more careful would yah? We'll be going on another mission soon, and I need my partner at her finest."

"Yeah, sure, sorry." He grinned at her and turned out the curtain. Lucy waited until she heard him go out the window before she left and sat on her bed. Only just five minutes ago, Natsu had been holding her. She'd been so happy, so content. Now she felt like her heart was being smashed.

"Uhhh! I'm such a drama queen! It's only lunch!" Lucy spent what was left of the morning cleaning and then went to the guild hall to find some lunch of her own. This turned out to be a mistake, because the only thing people could talk about was that Natsu and Lisanna were on a date.

"Yeah, I heard he asked her last night in some big romantic way."

"Wow! I mean, who'd have thought it? One dragon slayer taken, now another on the way."

"Seriously, to be honest though, I'm a bit confused. I mean, I could have sworn that he had a thing for Lucy."

"Yeah, well it's quite obvious that she has a thing for him."

"Yeah, poor Lucy. Maybe I could get a rebound date."

"Are you kidding me, man? She's way out of your league." Thankfully that was when they walked away and Lucy sighed. Mirajane shot her a concerned look and placed down a bowl of ice cream.

"I didn't order this, Mira."

"I know Lucy, but there is no better cure for a broken heart." Lucy accepted it gracefully and sighed. It was her favorite flavor anyway.

"So you must be happy for your sister." Lucy looked up when Mira didn't answer and Lucy was confused at Mira's saddened look.

"If it's the right thing, then yes, I'm happy for her and him."

"What do you mean, if it's the right thing?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just a little worried is all. If she'd never disappeared, then yes, but well, I think she's always seen him as the Natsu she left behind. She's never seen him for who he was when she returned, the Natsu you turned him into."

"Me?" Lucy said through a mouth full of ice cream. "Naw, I didn't do anything. Sure Natsu's changed over the years, but we all have."

"Yes, but she still sees the boy she left behind. Honestly Lucy, before you came, Natsu was sad and lonely all the time, even with Happy for company. You were his missing piece."

"You mean I was his replacement for Lisanna."

"What?! Lucy, that's a horrible thing to say! You were never a replacement!"

"Come on Mira! I know I'm Natsu's best friend now, but before me, I know it was Lisanna. Tell me that isn't true and I'll start to believe you."

"Well, yes it is, but…"

"No buts Mira. Look, I'm touched that you're trying to cheer me up, but let's face it. Lisanna and Natsu belong together, always have, always will." Lucy stood up, leaving her money and her bowl behind, heading home. She missed Mira's hurt look and she missed Levy and Gajeel's concerned ones.

"That idiot," Gajeel whispered, taking Levy's hand.

"What do you mean?"

"Natsu's come of age alright, I can smell his hormone levels going into overdrive, but only when he's around Lucy. Dragon slayers only ever desire their mates. He won't even be tempted by Lisanna, not that Lucy would know that."

"Gajeel! We have to tell her!"

"No Levy, they need to figure this out on their own. Just like we did."

"When will that happen?"

"He'll start showing the signs soon, but he might not know for sure until he starts having the dreams like me."

"Dreams?" Gajeel smiled at Levy in such a way that she knew exactly what kind of dreams he was talking about.

"Would you like me to show you?"

"Maybe," Levy said, standing and sauntering out of the guildhall, her mate practically drooling as he followed her.

* * *

Lucy found herself alone that night for dinner. She tried to pretend that she was relieved to finally have a free night without Natsu, but she couldn't lie, especially to herself. She made some mac and cheese and then started looking through her mail. Most were bills or useless fan mail that she'd have to answer eventually, but one letter caught her in particular.

"April! I haven't heard from her in forever!" Opening the letter, Lucy found comfort in the familiar handwriting of a childhood friend.

 _Dear Lucy,_

 _I know, I know, I haven't written in forever and so to make up for it, you'll find some birthday money in the envelope. Spend wisely! Second, I have great news! I am happy to report that I made assistant designer under the great Amelia Bonaparte! I can't believe it! Both of our dreams have finally come true. You a celebrated member of Fairy Tail and I, a fashion designer! But seriously, you must come visit me sometime! I mean letters are fine, but we haven't seen each other in years and no, that time I was in Magnolia for an hour to have lunch with you and that weird pink haired partner of yours doesn't count! Please, I'd really like to have a girl's weekend again like we used to as children! Just come to Marigold whenever you'd like. You don't even have to write first! Below is my address._

 _See Ya Soon,_

 _April_

Perhaps going to visit April sometime soon would be a good idea. It would get her away from the current drama and it would be nice to have someone to talk to that didn't know Natsu or Lisanna. Thinking of Natsu and Lisanna in the same thought brought back the harsh reality that she hadn't seen or heard from Natsu all day. She was thus forced to assume that he was still with Lisanna. An assumption proven wrong almost immediately. "Oi Lucy!" Natsu called as he swung into her bedroom window.

"Natsu, what…" Natsu plopped a huge fish on her table, right on top of her dinner.

"Natsu! I was trying to eat that!"

"You were? But I just put it here, how could you…"

"Not that you idiot!" Lucy picked up the fish and sighed at her ruined food. It had just been mac and cheese, but still.

"Oh, sorry Lucy. But look what Happy and I caught this afternoon! I thought that maybe you could prepare it for me?" Natsu looked at her with pleading eyes and Lucy rolled her own, before standing. She'd made the mistake once, ONCE, of preparing a fish for Natsu and Happy and now Natsu insisted that she prepare his fish all the time.

"All right!" Natsu immediately started slicing the fish at record breaking speed and helped Lucy to season it and then fry it.

Once he was settled and eating, Lucy leaned back on the counter and stared at him. "So," she started, "how was your day?"

"It was good I guess. But I really wish I'd been able to sleep longer. The lunch Lisanna picked out was nice, but there wasn't enough meat. She apologized and said that next time she'd let me choose the place. But I have to treat her then."

"Next time?"

"Yeah, I guess she wants to make this a regular thing, cause we're doing it again in a few days. It's nice because I really don't get to see her much anymore, what with you and me out on missions all the time."

Lucy felt stung and closed her eyes to hide the pain. "Well, then maybe you should go out on missions with her."

"Huh?" Natsu stopped eating to think about it for a moment, but then shook his head. "Naw. She's already set on a team and besides you and I are partners, Lucy."

Lucy smiled despite herself and continued. "So what did you do after the lunch?"

"Lisanna wanted to go shopping, but I decided to go fishing with Happy instead."

"You've been fishing this whole time?"

"Yeah, it took us awhile to catch one each," he shoved a particularly big piece into his mouth and somehow swallowed, "then I had to drag this thing back."

"Oh." Lucy watched him continue eating and turned to start the dishes.

"Hey, why aren't you eating?" Lucy sighed.

"Because you ruined my dinner, remember?"

"Yeah, but I made you a plate." Lucy spun to see that he had. She'd seen him do it, but she hadn't realized what it'd meant.

"You're actually sharing food with me?"

"Huh? Of course! I mean I did ruin your dinner and besides, you prepared it."

"But you never share food, unless it's with Happy."

"Sure I do! Especially with team mates!" Lucy sank to the chair and ate. It really was good and she enjoyed it as he described his time with Happy. She was laughing by the end, but still feeling as though she hadn't gotten enough sleep, she announced her intention of going to bed early.

"Good, I'm beat too." He ran into the bed room and flung himself on the bed, much to Lucy's annoyance.

"Natsu! Go home and sleep in your own bed!"

"Aww, come on Lucy, you know that I'll just sneak in here later. I'm just saving time." Lucy really didn't have the energy to argue and instead crawled in besides him after she'd brushed her teeth and changed.

It was a bit nippy for a summer night and Lucy was actually grateful for his warmth, but she had trouble sleeping. If this lunch thing with Lisanna continued, then Natsu would soon be taken, no matter what Mira said. She had to find some way to get him to stop all this. It wasn't fair, to anyone. She could suggest that he sleep at Lisanna's, but the thought made her clench Natsu's arm so hard that he jerked awake.

"What's wrong Luce? You having a nightmare?"

"Yeah, something like that." He wrapped his arms around her even more securely and sighed into her hair.

"Is that better?"

"Yeah, thanks." It killed her that it was. He always made her feel safe, even when he was the source of her problems.

"You smell good by the way, is that a new scent?" Startled by the question, she shook her head.

"No, I'm still using the same shampoo and conditioner as always."

"Hmm, well it smells particularly nice tonight."

"Thanks." He fell back to sleep and Lucy found herself drifting. She decided that she'd allow Natsu the privilege of this arrangement until he and Lisanna became official. If she was going to lose him anyway then she was going to keep him for as long as she could.

* * *

A dark figure walked down the street under Lucy's window. He waited until he was around the corner to check in. He pulled out what looked like an ordinary mirror, but when he tapped the glass, it glowed with an eerie purple light.

"Well," a male voice snapped on the other side.

"The Salamander has started to show signs for sure. I think that your plans may soon go into motion."

"Excellent. I'll be sending out the other two tomorrow to join you. Hopefully, we'll be in motion in a few weeks."


	4. Chapter 3

Hi Guys,

Okay, so after some deliberation I decided to split the the next chapter I'd written into two chapters. So this one is very short but the next chapter will be much longer I promise. Also, nothing to much in this chapter, just some character development and I'm sorry for you Lisanna fans. I actually really like her as a character so I'm trying to be as fair as possible. Don't worry, she'll come around ... eventually. No more spoilers though.

\- Singed

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

Natsu could feel that something was wrong. It had been a month since Levy and Gajeel's mating and Lucy had been acting different. Natsu stared at her from across the guildhall. She was speaking to Levy about a new store she liked to visit and Levy was trying to convince her to buy something nice for her birthday in two days. Lucy smiled and nodded, but her smile didn't reach her eyes. Something was wrong!

Agitated, Natsu rose from the table he had been sitting at with Lisanna. She had droned on about some mission she wanted to go on, but her team had decided to pass over.

"Natsu, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just need to stretch my legs for a moment."

"Well hurry back," Lisanna winked at Natsu as he grinned at her and walked off. That was something else that was bothering him, Lisanna was acting weird. He wasn't stupid. He knew she was flirting, just like they used to when they were kids, but it was almost like she was serious this time. She always had to be with him and he found that this was annoying him way more than it should have. Lisanna was an old friend, yet she wasn't the one he wanted to spend most of his time with. The person he found most enjoyable was Lucy and she seemed almost determined to ignore him. She'd even started locking her window at night, not that it did any good. He knew how to trip it from the outside.

"Hey Luce," Natsu said, sliding next to Lucy as Levy stood to go speak to Gajeel. He'd begun to calm down and rumor had it that he was even letting her discuss going on a mission with her old team again.

"Natsu, hey," Lucy said with a smile that once again did not reach her eyes.

"Lucy, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure Natsu, what's up?" Lucy stood and Natsu followed right behind her.

"Is something wrong? You've been acting funny for a while now."

Lucy stiffened before she tried to joke. "Jeez Natsu you sure know how to speak to the ladies."

"I'm serious!" Natsu stood before Lucy and grabbed her by her shoulders. "Something's wrong. Could you just tell me?"

Lucy looked down for a moment and Natsu's heart soared. That was her 'fine I'll tell you look'.

"It's just that…"

"That's she about to be another year older, Natsu!" Lisanna cut in, taking one of Natsu's arms in hers and pulling him back. Both women missed his look of annoyance, but Gajeel didn't. He smiled and shook his head. A Natsu before his coming of age would have never cared if Lisanna had done that. Now, anyone who came between him and his mate would begin to feel his wrath, including old friends. Lisanna was just digging herself a deeper and deeper grave, because when Natsu snapped, he'd snap nice and hard at anyone who got in his way. In fact, the only reason that Gajeel hadn't done that with Levy was because he was older when he'd met her and they'd started out as enemies.

"What's that mean Lisanna?" Lucy asked, hidden anger coloring her voice.

"I mean that what woman wants to start celebrating her birthday at your age?"

Lucy blushed when Natsu stepped in. "Hey, Lucy's my partner and I think we should celebrate! In fact, entire guild party here on Lucy's birthday!" The entire guild erupted with cheers and Lucy's blush turned to one of pleasure that is until she saw Lisanna pull Natsu away.

"But Natsu, you promised to take me out that night, remember?"

"What? No I didn't. I would never agree to have dinner with you on Lucy's birthday. You must have gotten the wrong day Lisanna." Natsu turned back to Lucy and pulled her over to the bar to speak with Mira about the party. She wasn't there because she was too busy glaring at her younger sister. Mira knew that Natsu was supposed to hang out with Lisanna in three days, not two. Mira loved Lisanna, but the Lisanna who stood before her was not the sister she knew.

"Hey Mira! Come here, we need to talk about parties!"

"Coming!" She called, purposely bumping into Lisanna on her way to the bar, throwing a heated glare her way. She would speak to her about this later. Mira gladly made plans with Natsu and Lucy. Although they pretty much ignored anything Lucy said and just made plans anyway. Natsu then dragged Lucy out of the guildhall to go shopping for the party. They were bickering nicely as they left, which gave Mira the perfect chance to have a little chat with her sister. Quickly putting the guild to work, Mira was barking orders to anyone and everyone. So, it really wasn't all that difficult to get Lisanna alone with her in one of the back closets.

"Lisanna, could you please explain to me what is going on with you?" Mira asked as she locked the door and folded her arms over her chest. Lisanna looked properly cowed. Sighing, Lisanna leaned against the table and looked up at her big sister.

"I know Mira, in truth, I've begun to hate myself a little. I like Lucy, always have, especially when I realized what she became for Natsu. But Mira, you've always known how I've felt about Natsu. I always dreamed of being the one he ended up with. When I disappeared, I thought that I'd never get that chance, but when I got back …" Lisanna shrugged and sighed again.

"Lisanna, I understand, but can't you see how much you're hurting both Lucy and Natsu?"

Lisanna placed her face in her hands and squawked. "I know, I know. What makes this whole thing worse is that he doesn't even realize that we're technically dating. He just thinks we're hanging out for old time's sake! And most of the time all he can talk about is Lucy and the adventures they go on."

"So you try harder to compensate."

"Yeah, and to be honest, I'm sick of it."

"Then why continue?"

"Because Mira, I had to give up so much when I left. I don't know how to give him up too. When I saw his looks start to change towards Lucy a few months back, I knew that I had to make my move. I'm not going down without a fight. If he still chooses Lucy in the end, then so be it. But I'll do what I must to get him to notice me."

Mira glared at her sister, but she could understand her, which made her anger dissipate just a little. "I can see that you're determined in this but just do your big sister a favor."

"What's that?"

"Just promise me that you'll stop going out of your way to hurt the relationship between Natsu and Lucy. Because if there is one thing that everyone here knows that you don't, it's that Lucy is being the bigger person by loving him enough to let him make his own choice. She's letting him go freely." She turned from her sister and opened the door. She stopped in the doorway and added over her shoulder. "And that when Natsu finally figures out what you're doing he'll never forgive you." Mira left her sister then and went back to work.


	5. Chapter 4

Hi Guys,

So things will really begin to pick up in this chapter. I do leave it on a bit of a cliff hanger, so sorry. (Not sorry :) ) Anyway, I'll be posting again on either Saturday or Sunday, so not to much time to wait. Also, I do want to do a brief shout out to all my readers who have left reviews. I've seen them all and thanks! You guys are awesome! Also, I'll try to lay off on the commas. I know, its been a habit since forever with me. So this is my promise to try (cue Yoda speech) and be more sparing in their use.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

* * *

Lucy rubbed her sleepy eyes as she tried to come to terms with some things. One, it was her 20th birthday. Two, she wasn't a teenager anymore. Sure, with all the adventuring she'd been doing for so many years she hadn't really felt like a teenager for a while. But still twenty. The third thing she was desperately trying to come to terms with was that Natsu was in her bed, again. She had woken up that morning to the sound of the wakening street below and the birds. This could only mean that her window was open.

Shifting, she felt the telltale arm around her waist that told her that he was definitely there. Of course, she was also needlessly warm, which wasn't helped by her blush. Gosh, how could she love such a loser! Some pervert who broke into her house whenever it convenience him and thought it appropriate to spoon her during the night without her consent. She'd tried to explain it, time and time again, but no, he refused to understand. He always came up with some convincing remark. Sighing, Lucy decided that she wasn't going to be too concerned which was part of the problem. He and Lisanna were dating, but all she did to keep him out of her bed was lock her window which she'd known since day one couldn't hold him back.

Turning around in his arms, she searched his sleeping face for any clues. Because she was beginning to suspect that he didn't understand that he and Lisanna were dating. This made her snort softly. Only Natsu could be so thick. Still, something that Levy had said a few days ago made her wonder.

* * *

Lucy had been reading the book Levy had given her and had come to the part that discussed a dragon slayer's nature towards a mate when he or shee was getting ready to claim her. It had said in the book that a dragon slayer had to be 21 before they even began to show any interest in a possible mate. However, since none of them knew Natsu's actual age it was still possible that this whole thing was just white noise. She had gone to Levy proclaiming her theory. Gajeel, who had been sitting next to her just laughed and stood, throwing a smile to Levy. Levy sighed and shook her head at Lucy.

"Sorry Lucy, but no. Gajeel assures me that based on Natsu's scent, he is definitely coming into his mating needs. He'll be able to control them if he wants. Gajeel did it for years. But, no he has chosen her and other than rejecting him publicly and letting him go there is really nothing the potential mate can do but wait."

* * *

So this got Lucy thinking. She hadn't finished the book yet, so she wasn't sure what clues to look out for. She'd just have to ask Gajeel, maybe tonight at the party. Studying Natsu again for what felt like the millionth time just that year Lucy sighed. She would stay with him forever if he asked. If he chose another then she'd let him. How could she not?

"You're sighing a lot this morning." Lucy looked up startled and saw his eyes watching her. She rolled her own at him as she climbing out of bed.

"I'm another year older Natsu. Of course I'm sighing." Natsu chuckled as she marched into the bathroom and took a shower. She decided to take her time since it was her birthday and Natsu had finally realized that peeking in on her could get him killed.

When she left the shower however, she smelled food and raced out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel fearing for her kitchen. What she saw though, forced her to stop. Natsu had actually cooked and hadn't destroyed her kitchen. "Surprise!" He yelled, sitting her down and placing a plate full of breakfast foods.

"You… you did all this?"

"Yeah! I've been practicing with Mirajane for the past month." Lucy smiled up at him and he smiled back, before shoving a fork in her face. "Now try it!" Sighing again, Lucy did as requested and was pleasantly surprised at his accomplishment. When she nodded her approval, he literally glowed for a second in pleasure before helping himself and eating faster than could be seen. Of course, everything went wrong when Lucy got to the eggs.

"Natsu!" Her mouth felt like it was on fire. She ran to the sink and drank as much water as she could. Meanwhile she heard him trying to explain that he hadn't realized making the eggs with an entire bottle of tabasco sauce would make her mad. He'd always liked the taste.

"Of course you'd like that taste you idiot," she said smacking him with her fist. "You're a fire breather. Anything hot is up your ally." Here she kicked him as hard as she could. Unfortunately, she forgot that she was in nothing but a towel and the law of physics deems that when that much motion is done in a towel, said towel must flutter to the ground.

Screaming and rushing out of the room, her cheeks flamed when he yelled. "Hey Luce, I know it's your birthday and everything, but that doesn't mean you can be in your birthday suit!"

"Jerk," she muttered.

"I heard that!" He called, way too pleased with himself.

"Oh yeah, hear this," she whispered some very impressive words just as quietly. This sent Natsu roaring with laughter. He finally calmed down when she reentered, fully dressed and he could drag her out of the house. To the rest of the guild it appeared that he had only been planning this birthday for two days. In all actuality, he had been planning this day for at least a month. The party he'd just added on to get Lisanna to stop teasing her.

First, he took her to her favorite shops on Main Street, even her new favorite, which made her smile. How'd he know? She'd only mentioned it to Levy. Then, he took her to a book shop and told her the most wonderful, magical phrase a book lover could ever hear.

"Pick one, any one you'd like because I'm buying!"

"What? Seriously!"

"Yep." Lucy grabbed Natsu and hugged him before skipping off into the shelves. Natsu finally found Lucy huddled in a corner a half hour later trying to choose between three books. Her brow was furrowed and something in him warmed. Her golden hair was longer than when they'd first met and it was swept back in a basic ponytail today, with some locks framing her face. Her brown, observant eyes were focused solely on the task at hand. Natsu had always known Lucy was pretty, but for the first time in his life, he truly felt the weight of Lucy's beauty. He could now fully appreciate why all those men would just stop and stare at her. This realization also made him angry though. He'd have to keep an eye on her, just to make sure that they didn't get any ideas that could hurt Lucy.

"Huh, I don't know!" Lucy looked up at Natsu to see him gazing at her with a look that stole her breath. He'd never looked at her like that before. It was almost like he was looking at something he cherished.

"Natsu?"

"Hmm?" He asked crouching next to her and leaning closer.

Suddenly panicked, Lucy held up the three books. "Help me pick one." Natsu agreed and sat next to her. They were soon in quite the debate.

"No, you have to put the fairytale one back!"

"But why?"

"Because it puts dragons in an evil light!" Sighing and knowing he was right, Lucy slipped it back. She'd just come back later. Maybe she could use April's money on it.

"Alright, now we're down to two. So, spooky mystery, or a realistic romance?"

Natsu shrugged, not really caring now that Lucy had gotten rid of the one. "Just pick Lucy. You know you can always come back for the other."

"Yeah," Lucy said flipping to the backs of the books one more time and began to read. She was reading the backs for the fifth time, when suddenly, both were snatched from her hands and she watched Natsu's retreating back.

"Natsu!" He made it to the counter even before Lucy had scrambled to her feet and raced over. "Natsu! No, I'll pick, I'll pick!"

"To late," he said handing the cashier the jewels and handing her the bag. "Let's just say it's an early I'm sorry present. I'm sure I'll have to get one for you sometime in the next month." Lucy smiled and followed him out of the store. They had lunch in her favorite café and then Natsu took her to the woods for a stroll. She loved the fact that even though she often complained when they came here, he knew that she secretly loved and reveled in its beauty. It was a beautiful day too. All of the trees were full of leaves, giving them plenty of shade in the bright June sunshine. Flowers and animals were everywhere and a breeze kept them pleasantly cool. But, what Lucy loved the most about the forest, was that this was where Natsu was the most Natsu. He didn't have anyone to fight and nothing to distract him either. He was completely himself and she always felt the most in love with him there in the shade of the trees. Of course, time was an ignored dimension in the forest and so when they left, Lucy immediately felt a stab of panic at how low the sun was.

To Lucy's horror, they made it back into town with only an hour to spare. She left Natsu at a crossroads, promising to meet him at the guildhall in an hour. She chose the outfit she'd bought that day and sighed. It was lovely. Just the right shade of green to show off her features and it was also the same shade as Natsu's eyes. It hugged her in all the right places and it did all that while being perfectly comfortable.

She made it to the guild just before Natsu. He had decided to wear a similar outfit he had at Levy and Gajeel's reception.

"Wow Lucy, you look party ready!" Natsu felt like slapping himself after he said that though. Party ready? Seriously? The words he was looking for was beautiful or stunning, but party ready was what slipped out. Yeah, he was suddenly learning to regret his habit of acting before thinking.

"Thanks Natsu, you look…" She never got to finish because Natsu kicked open the doors needing some way to vent his frustration at his own stupidity.

"Who's ready to party!" Cheers went up from their guild mates and Lucy was sucked in and passed around.

There was a lot of drinking to her health and plenty of presents. Most of which were actually pretty good, but she knew that she'd have to give the bucket of fish back to Happy. It was well after midnight when everyone was finally dragging themselves out and Lucy finally felt she could breath.

"Tired Lucy?" Lisanne asked, coming up behind her.

"Yeah." Lucy answered honestly. Some of the threat she'd felt from Lisanna even two days ago had worn off. Lisanna and Natsu were still planning on hanging out and everything, but now that Lucy knew that Natsu was supposed to be showing signs and wasn't, she suddenly wasn't as worried.

"That's good. Here is my present to you by the way. I know that our friendship has been strained lately, but I figured that you could use this." Lucy opened it and saw a beautiful journal.

"Wow, thanks Lisanna!"

"You're welcome." Lisanna smiled at her and walked away, to be replaced by Levy. Levy was there to say her good-nights when Lucy suddenly remembered her desire to speak to Gajeel.

"I don't know Lucy. He's not really one to talk about these things."

"Yeah, but you're his wife. Just work your magic." They both looked at Gajeel as he sat at the other end of the bar, drinking.

"Well, he is pretty drunk. I'll see what I can do." Lucy turned back to the crowd and watched as Natsu and Gray got into another fight. Deciding that all she could do was sit and wait as Levy spoke to Gajeel, she took a seat at the bar to watch the fight. A deep, masculine snort interrupted her entertainment and she glanced over to see Gajeel.

"Levy says you wish to speak to me about dragon slayer mating." He took the seat next to her and Lucy realized that he wasn't really all that drunk. How much liquor could this guy hold?

"Well actually, I want to know more about the signs a dragon slayer will show when he's found a mate." She was speaking to Gajeel, but her eyes were on Lisanna, who was watching Natsu.

"You still worried about Lisanna? Jeez you're pathetic, the lot of you. You ain't got anything to worry about bunny girl."

"Well, then tell me something to reassure me!"

"Listen bunny girl, I'm not sure if it's the alcohol or that Levy is so fond of you, but I've got some news for you. Your friend Natsu is a dragon slayer."

Lucy looked at him in disgust. Okay, never mind, he was drunker than he looked. "Yeah, that I know."

"Shut-up, or I won't tell you anything!"

"Okay, sorry!" Lucy said, holding up her hands to stave off his anger. Grunting, he continued.

"Anyway, the magic is great, rare, and ancient, but it comes with some costs."

"Like?"

"Like that fact that dragon slayers can't feel any kind of physical or emotional love for a partner until they turn 21. Well our boy Natsu is starting to show. I smelled the change in him immediately a few months ago when you got back on a mission. I've been watching him and he's definitely showing those signs now."

"What signs? What should I be looking for?"

"Look, let me explain some things first, would yah? When a dragon slayer turns 21, if he doesn't already have a mate, he will begin to look for one. I was in that position for a few weeks, until I met Levy. I knew instantly that she was my mate."

"But you attacked her!"

"I never said we had to accept the truth, just that we'd know it when we saw it. Anyway, when a dragon slayer finds his mate he will begin to pursue her. It will be small stuff at first, but then it will escalate rather quickly. We can control it, but it takes a lot of will power. If we're not careful we'll jump the gun and take the privilege away from the partner."

"Privilege?"

"To say no, that you want someone else. See, like I said, we have no interest or desire for physical love until we meet the partner. However, if something triggers that need, we could lose control and mate them without giving them the choice. It's actually more like a ceremony. You have to accept us or reject us before an assembled audience and if accepted, then we mate and claim you. We will never desire another and if you the partner even tries to find another after a claiming we'll kill the new object of our mate's affections, simple as that." This Lucy already knew, but Gajeel being inebriated and irritated already with her previous interruptions, stayed quiet and let him continue.

"So, it is the ultimate marriage then."

"Yep, till death do us part for sure," Gajeel snickered at his own joke and Lucy turned to watch Natsu arguing with Gray as Juvia tried to calm them.

"But I don't see anything different in Natsu."

"Seriously? Not one thing?" Here Lucy began to think back and started to connect all those small dots she'd ignored at the time. His insistence on sleeping with her every night, when before it'd been only a few times a month. His sudden desire to accommodate her on everything. Yeah, maybe he was ready for a mate and maybe, just maybe, she was it.

"Well maybe a few things."

"Exactly! And like I said, it's gradual at first. However, Natsu's going to have an even harder time than the rest of us."

"Why?"

"Because he already knew his mate before 21, which means no warning for him. I was warned by my sudden attraction for Levy, but Natsu already had strong feelings for his mate. He just couldn't see them for what they were. Now however, he's starting to feel them but they are coming far too slowly for him to prepare himself or you."

"Me!"

Gajeel stared at her in disgust and snorted. "Of course bunny girl! Who else would his mate be?"

"But he and Lisanna…

"Are all a farce, concocted by her own desires and his own ignorance. Next denial."

"But he's never shown any special treatment to me, not really."

"Of course not! Haven't you been listening? He couldn't, nor did he care to. He loves you, but he doesn't know that. He just thought you were his best friend. Now however, he's awakening and when he finally does I don't want to be anywhere near you two."

"Why?" Gajeel just gave her a look that told her how stupid she was.

"Newly mated dragon slayers are violet to all but their mates and matings are, well, loud."

"Is that why you and Levy moved so far out of town?" Lucy smiled coyly.

Gajeel smiled back before saying, "It was more her than me. "

Lucy recoiled back in disgust. "Too much information Gajeel!" Settling, Lucy looked up to see Natsu eyeing her and Gajeel, a look of displeasure slowly forming.

"Now you've done it. Look, before he comes over here and breaks up the party, let me just give you the signs to watch out for. First, he has to spend all his time with you. And I mean every waking and sleeping moment. Second, he'll go out of his way to either improve himself or impress you. Third, he'll become overly protective of you when you're with other males, which can be seen as he approaches growing angrier with every step. Fourth, he'll start asking for some kind of physical touch, an arm around you, a hug, a kiss. Stay away from the kisses though, if there is anything that will set off a premature mating it will be that."

"Gajeel, why can't you tell him all this?"

"I could try, but honestly, he needs to figure this out on his own. We all did. Dragons and dragon slayers alike don't really talk about this. We just expect everyone to figure it out on their own. Besides, if I told him, he'd run," he said slowly. They watched as Levy intercepted the fuming Natsu. "He'll feel he doesn't deserve you. So I have no doubt he'll run. No, it's best if he comes to all these realizations on his own. By then he should be too in-love to be afraid of your apparent worth and his apparent lack of one."

"Gajeel, when did you become such a philosopher?"

"By the third glass. Now I'm on my sixth." Whatever Levy was saying to Natsu, it had him distracted enough to keep him there. But Lucy still needed to know one more thing before she could accept the situation.

"So what you're saying is that I have no choice."

"No, you do. You just have to reject him now, or he'll not be able to fight his biology."

"Well," looking back at Natsu, seeing him, knowing that he was going to be claiming her soon because his heart was already hers made her warm inside. "No, I love him too. So I guess he's stuck with me." Gajeel laughed heartily and Natsu swung back to them more angered than before and stormed over.

"One last question Gajeel," Lucy hurried on. "If a premature mating does occur, will it harm either of us?"

"Not really, you've just lost your last chance to back out. You can perform the ceremony at any time really, but the deed is done."

"Could I try to stop him or would it be …" not knowing how to continue, Lucy looked down.

"Rape? Eww, what do you take us for bunny girl? No! If you honestly said no and pushed him away, he'd listen. The real question would be weather you wanted him to stop. After all we can be very persuasive." To prove his point he stood and sauntered over to Levy just as Natsu reached her. Natsu took a possessive stance next to Lucy as they watched Gajeel swing Levy into his arms and kiss her. It was quite the kiss. Lucy had seen more passionate ones in her life but when Levy pulled away, hunger shone in her eyes. Jumping down, Levy took Gajeel's hand as she raced for the exit.

"Hmmm, I better be careful."

"About what Lucy?" Natsu asked, looking at her with concern.

"Nothing Natsu," she said waving her hand at him but beginning to blush. He leaned forward and sniffed the air.

"You're lying. Your heart just skipped a beat which it always does when you lie and your scent changed too. Did Gajeel threaten you?" Natsu asked, turning with anger to the door.

"No Natsu." Sighing, she jumped from the stool and walked towards the exit. "I'm tired. I think I'll go home and go to bed." Natsu nodded and walked with her to her apartment, helping her carry all her gifts. He brought them up to her kitchen and Lucy was starting to put them away when she realized that he hadn't left. She turned back to see him shifting his weight uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"You're just going to break in again aren't you?" He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Well you might as well stay then." He raced behind her to her bathroom where she heard him brushing his teeth. It wasn't long before Lucy found herself snuggled in her bed with a snoring Natsu. They had started out not touching but in his sleep he'd reached out and draped his arm over her.

Whatever Lucy had said to Gajeel that night and vice versa, she still had her doubts. After all, maybe Natsu was different. He'd proven his oddities more than once. Turning, she looked at her calendar across the way and started to count. A smile slowly crossed her face as she realized that all the signs fit. Almost exactly two months ago Natsu had been breaking into her house every single night to sleep with her. About a month ago he started going well out of his way to impress her and if his arm said anything, he was starting to feel the need to touch her.

So that night, she slept in utter peace and knew that tomorrow would be a better day. However, by the end of it, she found herself on a racing train out of Magnolia running from her shattered heart. Running from all the hopes that she'd been building that had just been brutally murdered. But most of all, she was running from the scene of Lisanna kissing Natsu and he kissing her back.


	6. Chapter 5

Hey Guy,

Wow, okay, sorry to get some of you so upset. With that being said, this chapter should answer all your questions. Anyway, this chapter will set a lot into motion. I'll have the next chapter up sometime around Wednesday, otherwise, enjoy!

\- Singed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

* * *

 **The Day After Lucy's Birthday**

Lucy's day started out pretty normal. It was the ending that was anything but. However, Natsu found his day go from bizarre, to wonderful, to the worst possible day of his life. He woke up a little before Lucy. He wasn't entirely sure what woke him just that he was so happy he could sing, or something like that.

He'd had a wonderful dream. In it he had been eating more meat then he knew what to do with. He was trying to figure out how he was going to finish it all when Lucy showed up carrying a plate of more meat. Natsu was ecstatic and dove right in. However, when he bothered to look up he was shocked to see Lucy naked before him.

"Do you need anything else Natsu?" Natsu was floored. Yes, he'd seen Lucy naked before but it had never affected him. Now, he wanted to know what it felt like to touch her, but he was suddenly shy and wasn't sure what to do.

"Lucy, where are your clothes?"

"My clothes? Natsu you idiot, you won the bet remember? Because I lost, you said that I had to serve you meat for a day completely naked. Honestly, don't make demands that you're just going to forget." Natsu stood up from his giant meat platter and approached her.

"So, you're not mad about this then?"

"Why would I be mad, we're mates after all."

Natsu stopped dead, but only because that statement made him feel … wonderful.

"We are?"

"Yes you idiot! Gosh, I guess I must be pretty ugly or something for you to not remember this past year at all!"

"No, not ugly, beautiful." Lucy looked up at him with shock before blushing and smiling in the most loving way. He reached out to touch her cheek and she smiled more, causing him to smile back. That was when the dream ended. He awoke with Lucy in his arms. He was still half asleep and just stared at her. He gently stroked her cheek and smiled at how soft it was. She shifted ever so gently and muttered something, which caused Natsu to come to his senses.

What was he DOING! If Lucy had woken up to that she'd kill him. He'd always loved Lucy as his partner and his friend but it was like suddenly he was seeing her as something other, something more. Upset, he lifted himself from the bed and walked to the living room. He went to her couch and sat down. What had he been thinking? what had he been dreaming?! Was he suddenly the pervert that Lucy always accused him of?

"Yep, pretty much," he sighed, because now he couldn't stop thinking of Lucy in her birthday suit. When he'd seen in before it had just rolled off him? But now he found himself growing excited and wanting to see her like that again. What the heck was wrong with him! He shouldn't feel these things for his partner. He felt shame race through him and flopped back down on the couch, his head landing hard on something.

"Oww!" He said louder than he meant causing Lucy to shift in her sleep again and mutter her annoyance. Peering down at what he'd hit his head on, he saw a book. Normally, Natsu wasn't really interested in books, but this one had the word dragon on it and that caught his attention. Picking it up he read the title.

"A Thorough Study on the Mating Habits of Dragon Slayers. Huh." Once again, Natsu wasn't stupid just bad at connecting dots. Now however, some things were starting to make sense. He'd always known he was different from most males his age because he wasn't obsessed with girls and how hot or not they were. He honestly didn't feel a need to pursue that. It had seemed a waste of time and effort on his part, but as he'd grown older, he figured out that he was missing something. The other guys felt something towards these women. He honestly didn't, other than friendship and comradery. Now, he was beginning to realize that if this was what other men felt for women, then yeah, no wonder they were distracted so easily.

He started thinking about all of the attractive women in his life. Lisanna, beautiful, Mira, bombshell, Erza, deadly beauty, Cana, knock out, but Lucy… Lucy set his blood on fire. Compared to all these other women, Lucy made them seem plain and uninteresting. He looked up at her again and noticed her stretching. It wouldn't be long now. She'd wake soon.

It wasn't just her beauty however, everything Lucy did was so much better. Her kindness and loyalty were next to none. Her intelligence mixed with her mercy and grace shone from her eyes and even the way she screamed made him light hearted. Her looks were devastating and alluring, but it was herself, the soul of Lucy that called to him and made him forget that other women existed. Looking back down at the book, Natsu was struck with the realization that maybe this was what mating was all about for dragon slayers. He knew enough to know that when the term mating was used for his kind it wasn't just sex. It was a bond, magical in its strength and instinctual in its rules. Maybe this is what love felt like.

Filled with resolve Natsu decided something that he'd never decided before. He was going to read a book cover to cover. Tucking it in the back of his pants, Natsu rose from the couch and approached Lucy. He shook her by the shoulder gently until one eye opened.

"What Natsu? I'm tired."

"I know. I'm just telling you that I'm going to be gone for most of the day, probably even dinner."

"Yeah, I know you already have plans for dinner." He did? Suddenly he remembered Lisanna. Crap. She was really starting to get in the way.

"Yeah, that. I'll be back tonight."

"Whatever, I'll just shop and do some chores I haven't gotten to yet." She drifted back to sleep and Natsu left, by window of course, and ran to the woods. He could always find peace and quiet there. He settled down and read and read and read. Even though he wasn't a very accomplished reader he was actually rather fast thanks to Erza's lessons as a kid. The sun was just setting when he snapped the book shut and begun to pace.

So much made sense now! He'd always known that he was around Lucy's age, well now he knew he was older by a year. All these new desires and feelings towards his partner all made sense when he came to the obvious conclusion that she was his mate. He'd always known that he did love Lucy, but being unable to differentiate between love of family and friends and being in-love, he never realized its potential. He had to tell Lucy! No he had to tell the world! He loved her and he was going to prove to her that he would be the perfect mate. He began to run into town when he stopped.

He didn't deserve her. He didn't even come close. She was brilliant, he was not. She had self-control, he wasn't sure what that word even meant. People flocked to her, people ran from him. He began to walk once more, thinking. None of this would matter if Lucy loved him too. He needed to know though. He needed to know that she loved him too or at least that there was a possibility that she could love him back. He needed to speak with someone, preferably someone who knew her well. Levy! Perfect.

New plan in place, Natsu ran at full speed towards the guild and he couldn't help the grin that stretched across his face. As he approached the guild hall however, Lisanna walked out of the door and spotted him.

"There you are! I was getting worried."

"Lisanna, hi," he said, rubbing the back of his head. Crap! He'd forgotten again.

"Well come on silly, we need to get to the restaurant soon or we'll lose the reservation." She grabbed his arm and began to lead him away. Natsu, normally an easy going guy found this the most unacceptable idea of his life. He had to speak to Levy now!

"Sorry, Lisanna," he said turning back to the guild hall, "I must speak with Levy. It's something really important about Lucy."

"Lucy?" Lisanna flushed in anger and crossed her arms. "What about Lucy?"

"Look, I just need to speak to Levy, because Lucy and her are really good friends and she might know somethings. Then after that, I'll need to go speak to Lucy. We'll hang out another time." He turned and started walking away, when Lisanna saw the book tucked into the back of his pants and her worst fears were realized as she read the title.

"Wait, stop Natsu."

"Why?" He asked turning around.

Lisanna had made a promise to Mira and herself, but she just wanted one more night and one more chance. Like lightening she had an idea. It was probably the worst idea of her life but she wouldn't realize it until it was too late. "Because Levy's not in the guild. Her and Gajeel left a few moments ago." This was a lie. They were actually in the guild hall at that very moment having dinner with Lucy.

"What, aww man! Do you know where they went?"

"Probably back to their house."

"Great! I'll go there."

"Natsu!" Lisanna chided smoothly, taking his arm and steering him back towards the town. "It isn't a good idea to visit a newly mated couple. Even you should know that."

"Oh, right," Natsu's gaze turned dark and Lisanna could tell what he was thinking. Before he could think of someone else to hunt down Lisanna said the magic words.

"You know, Lucy and I are pretty good friends. Maybe I could help." If anyone else had been around they could have told Natsu that Lisanna was lying. Lucy and Lisanna had been good friends, until the current tension had started.

"Yeah, yeah, maybe you could help me." Once again, Natsu wasn't stupid. He'd picked up on Lisanna's flirting, finally, and the tension between the two. He'd just always had a very unwavering trust in his friends to have his and the guild's best interest at heart, because that was what he always did.

"Now, let's go to dinner and you can tell me all about it." What transpired next was the most grueling, painful two hours of Lisanna's life. She had to sit there and listen to Natsu go on and on about how he loved Lucy and why they were perfect for each other. How he'd finally figured out why he felt the way he did. Lisanna had given up on her plan by the end of dinner, that is, until Natsu got to the crux of his dilemma.

"Of course I love Lucy, but does she love me?"

"What?" This shocked Lisanna enough to cause her to stumble. They were on their way back to the guild and Lisanna was trying to figure out what to do so she didn't look like a stupid fool. Natsu was obviously planning to yell to the heavens about his discovery and the few who actually believed that they were dating would be hard to live with.

"Well, that's why I wanted to speak with Levy. She'd know if Lucy loved me back. I'm just worried that she doesn't." Suddenly, hope flared back into her heart. Maybe if she could convince Natsu that Lucy didn't love him then he'd begin to try to find a new mate. It should be explained that Lisanna is also not stupid and usually has a large, very caring heart, but she thought herself in-love. Never having actually been in-love before caused her to assume that it was more flexible and transferable than it really is. She assumed that on a whim it could transfer from person to person. After all, she'd seen plenty of girls and guys do this on a daily basis. She just never stopped to realize that these examples were mostly shallow individuals who knew nothing of a true love. A true love was steadfast and permanent, it was self-sacrificing and a true life altering experience. Lucy had this for Natsu and Natsu had this for Lucy, but Lisanna did not. She still had a child's understand of true love, something wonderful and ethereal. Something that promised all goodness with no painful sacrifices. No, she wasn't stupid, she was just ignorant and naive. Unfortunately, this was going to be a hard lesson to learn.

"Yes Natsu, I think Lucy does love you." Lisanna finally said.

"Really!" In her scheming, she missed the look of pure joy that flashed in his eyes. If she'd seen it she'd have lost her nerve.

"Yes, but you know Lucy is a romantic. She'll want to be told in a very special way."

"Special way, yeah. What should I do?"

"How about this. Go to the bridge and wait for her there. I'll go get her and make sure she meets you there in half an hour." Natsu agreed with a shout of joy and raced off. Lisanna on the other hand ran back to her apartment and changed into an outfit that she was sure Natsu hadn't seen before and that looked like something Lucy might wear. Sighing, she looked into the mirror and transformed. She twirled there before the mirror and was pleased to see how Lucy like she really was. She hoped this worked, especially because she hardly ever did people transformations. As she walked out of her apartment, she winced as she lost the transformation for a moment. This was going to take a lot more of her magic than she'd originally planned.

Steeling herself, she was still Lucy as she met Natsu at the appointed time. He was practically jumping out of his skin. When he saw her he waved her over enthusiastically and she hurried over. "Natsu, why are we here? Is something wrong?"

"No, not wrong! In fact the opposite of wrong. Lucy, I have the most wonderful news. I…" He'd been racing towards her while he spoke, but suddenly, he stopped and smelled the air.

"Lucy, are you okay?"

"What? Why do you ask?"

"Because you don't smell like you. You smell," he took another deep breath. "You smell exactly like Lisanna!"

"Well that's because I was just with her idiot," Lisanna hit Natsu like she'd seen Lucy do a thousand times and this seemed to reassure him, but barely.

"Yeah I guess, but Lucy…"

"Natsu," Lisanna interrupted, touching his arm, causing him to become distracted. She pulled him close. "Tell me what's going on."

"It's better if I show you." Natsu, finding a bravery he didn't know he had leaned down and kissed her passionately. Lisanna was in heaven as she allowed the transformation to drop. This was it. When Natsu pulled back, he'd see her and hopefully he'd still be so love struck from the kiss that he'd realize that he could have a future with her instead of Lucy.

When Natsu kissed Lisanna, he immediately felt wrong. At first, he assumed that it was because he'd never kissed anyone before, but no. Something was horribly wrong. This wasn't Lucy's scent. This wasn't Lucy's hair, or her shoulders he was feeling beneath his fingers. This wasn't Lucy! He pushed back hard and fast causing the girl he'd been kissing to stagger and fall, hard. Shaking her head she looked up at a fired-up Natsu. His glare maked her gulp and ignore the flash of color she saw moving behind him.

"Lisanna!" He roared, "What have you done!?"

"Natsu, I'm sorry. I just… I just like you so much and I wanted a chance to prove that I could be just as good as Lucy."

Natsu stopped dead and the look in his eyes caused Lisanna to quake. "Just as good as Lucy? Lisanna, are you stupid?" Before she could continue, he did. "Of course you are! We just talked about it all night! Lisanna you are one of my oldest friends, but Lucy … Lucy is the woman I love. There is no comparing you!" With that Natsu ran off, to where he didn't know and neither did Lisanna. She was shaken. The Natsu she knew would never have yelled at her like that. The Natsu she knew… didn't exist, at least, not anymore.

"What have I done," she whispered and sank to the ground.

* * *

Lucy had had a pretty okay day. She got her apartment in order and even discovered that she had enough funds to pay her rent a month in advance. She'd talk herself out of it if she didn't do it that day so after lunch she dropped it off and smiled at how good it felt. She'd met up with Levy and Gajeel shortly after lunch and went shopping with Levy, while Gajeel growled at how long they took at each store. Levy had suggested that he go back home if he was so bored but he'd down right refused. Lucy smirked, because Levy was wearing a rather skimpy outfit and Gajeel was obviously there to make sure that she didn't attract any unwanted male attention.

They had dinner at the guild hall and that was where Gajeel finally had enough of Lucy's lack of confidence in Natsu's intentions. "Oh for heave sake's girl! You are the fire breather's mate! Just kiss him already and be done with it. With any luck you'll be mated by morning and I won't have to listen to this trash anymore."

"Gajeel!" Levy yelled as Lucy blushed so thoroughly that a laugh from the guild rose up.

"What? It's true! Right?" The roar of agreement was deafening and Lucy walked home, steeling her nerve.

"Gajeel is right Plue!" Plue just shook and gave her a thumbs up before disappearing. She grabbed her jacket and raced for Natsu's home. When she got there she'd find some way to kiss him. Of course, according to Gajeel this could lead to an actual mating. Lucy stopped and blushed so intensely that she thought she might burst into flames. It almost caused her to turn around and run back, but no! She had to do this! So, she ran forward. She just turned the corner to cross the bridge to his house, when she was stopped dead. There was Natsu kissing Lisanna, passionately.

Lucy didn't think. She ran. She ran back home and packed a bag for a two week stay. She pulled the top letter from her letter drawer and opened it to make sure it was the one from April. It was, and the money was still inside the envelop. Checking quickly, Lucy saw that it was enough to buy a round trip train ticket and then some. Good.

She scrawled a note to Fairy Tail hoping that it would appease her other friends. Though there was no way that it would work on Natsu which is why she needed to do this quickly. Stuffing both April's letter and her note into her bag, she found a kid who said he'd deliver the note right away if she paid him a few jewels. She did so gladly out of April's fund and watched as he raced off toward the guild hall.

She then raced to the train station and bought a ticket on the next train going to Marigold, which was leaving in ten minutes. Good, her luck was holding, even if she was given strange looks from everyone in the area. She didn't care. The train came soon enough and it was only after she sat down that she realized she was crying and had been for the last hour. No wonder those people were staring. Sighing, Lucy realized that the train wouldn't arrive in Marigold until the morning, so she decided that crying herself to sleep would be okay.

* * *

Natsu had wandered the entire night, trying to conquer his rage. If Lisanna had known how close he'd come to completely losing it the night before she would have coward. His first instincts were to go to Lucy but he was afraid that his riled emotions would cause more issues than they would solve, so instead he wandered. He finally came to terms with his emotions as the sun rose and he made his way to the guild hall. Not many people would be there this early, but he was surprised to see absolutely no one.

He sat down at a table and waited but no one came. Suddenly he jerked awake as Gray punched him with an ice blast.

"Oww!" Natsu jumped up ready to actually kill the ice wizard, when he saw everyone's concerned faces.

"What?"

"There you are you loser! What was all of this about?"

"What are you talking about Gray?"

"That note last night? We were looking for you and Lucy all night!" Natsu's stomach sank and he glared around the room looking at each and every guild member.

"What are talking about? What note?"

"Natsu, last night Lucy sent us a note saying that she was leaving for two weeks. That was all it said. We assumed that something must be wrong and when we couldn't find you either, we assumed you'd gone with her."

"Gone! No of course I'm not with her! Why would she leave?"

"Not sure," Gray finally said.

"Well does it say where she's gone? Because I have to find her!"

"'fraid not. It just said she was leaving for two weeks." Natsu saw Mira holding the letter and jumped forward taking it from her grasp. They were right, it simply said,

"Going away for two weeks. See you when I return. – Lucy."

"Luce," Natsu had never felt more betrayed and hurt. He allowed himself to sink into depression for a moment before he crumpled up the paper and set it aflame. He raced towards the guild entrance and almost knocked Lisanna over as she entered.

"Natsu, where are you going?" Gray called.

"To her apartment, maybe there's a clue there." The guild was silent as they watched Natsu disappear.

Suddenly, Gajeel's voice called, "One hundred jewels says that when she returns he snaps and mates her that night!" Bets were quickly going back and forth, while Lisanna grew pail.

"What's going on?" She finally asked.

"Lucy ran away last night with no explanation to anyone." Gray answered, crossing his arms.

"Why would she …" Suddenly, Lisanna turned green, as if sick, and she covered her mouth. At the time, she'd thought nothing of the movement behind Natsu. Thinking about it now however, she realized what she had actually been seeing. A retreating back, running fast. It had been a girl in a tight outfit and blond hair. Definitely Lucy.

"What did you do?!" Mira suddenly shouted, while simultaneously taking on her demon soul form. This caused everyone in the guild to hush and turn to stare at Lisanna. Lisanna looked and felt more shame than she ever thought possible. She bowed her head and began to cry.

* * *

"Sir, number three reporting sir." A figure sitting behind a desk leaned forward and touched the crystal ball to activate it fully.

"Speak number three. Any progress?"

"Yes sir, but not in the direction we were hoping."

"Oh?" The figure sounded nonchalant, but he was anything but. This news angered him greatly. The last person to report had given him a favorable account.

"Yes sir. One of the shape shifters turned herself into the spitting image of Lucy Heartfilia and caused the Salamander to kiss her in confusion. The really Lucy saw the whole thing and has now ran off. We believe to the town of Marigold to visit an old childhood friend. Number two is with her and number one is following him. What are your orders?"

The man sat back and thought. At first, this sounded like a devastating set back. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that this might actually work in his favor. "Continue to follow and observe. Tell the other two that they need to increase their reports to twice a day. However, I think that when Ms. Heartfilia returns, she'll find herself in a very hot, shall we say, situation." He laughed as he touched the crystal ball again, deactivating it and returned to his book. Yes, he cared little for this new development. He'd hoped that today would be the day, but even though he now had to wait a bit longer, he was sure that the suspense and extended longing from both parties would only play into his hands.


	7. Chapter 6

Hey Guys,

Here's the next chapter as promised. A lot happens in this chapter and it is also the longest so far. For most of you who put in reviews for the last chapter, most of your questions will be answered here, though some will continue into the next few.

Oh, and a warning: Gray is a jerk in this chapter. Please note, I like Gray's character a lot, so he won't be staying like this. He's just having a moment where he makes a really bad decision. It does have a purpose as it links to another plot point later, so it's not just there for extra drama.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

\- Singed

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

* * *

Ten Days Later

Lucy sighed as she sank into the hot tub. Her friend April mimicked her actions precisely. It had been a good vacation. No worries, no fighting, all of her needs had been taken care of and most importantly, no pink haired heart-breaker to ruin it all. When she'd arrived ten days earlier April had been ecstatic. However, when April took a good look at Lucy, she knew something was horribly wrong. She'd tried to get her to talk about it, but no matter what she did Lucy just clammed up and asked that she be left alone on the subject.

April did as asked, but she'd been able to figure out somethings. Lucy only acted this way when she had her heart broken. Grant it she'd only had one real crush before she'd run away all those years ago, and the most they'd even done was hold hands. But when he'd started going out with another girl Lucy had acted just the same. April was even sure that the guy in question was that pink haired weirdo, Natsu. She honestly didn't get it herself. Sure, he was hot but definitely not someone she would have gone for, but if the tone from Lucy's letters could be interpreted correctly he'd made her happy. Happier than anyone else ever had, including her mother.

"So, Lucy, when are you actually leaving?"

"In four days. You trying to get rid of me?"

April laughed and shrugged. "No, I love having you around, but I do need to go out of town for work and it'd be rude with a guest still here."

Lucy felt bad and looked at her friend horrified. "Oh my gosh April, if you'd told me I would have…"

"Lucy, I have a right to pick when I go. I was planning on leaving sometime this week anyway, so it's not that big a deal."

"Oh, good," Lucy said leaning back into the water and closing her eyes again. In truth, April was making all this up. Lucy had been showing signs of trying to find a reason to stay longer, and if there was one thing April knew, it was that Lucy needed to confront whatever was going on.

"So, how is the guild life?"

Lucy took an extra-long time in answering. "Guild life is good. It's very exciting and I couldn't ask for better friends! I'm one of the lucky ones, April."

"That's good. Of course, it doesn't sound like you have much time for love."

April had cracked her eyes to watch Lucy's face and was startled to see a tear streaked down her cheek and her face crumple. Ever the practical one, April just sighed and sat up. "Lucy, are you ever going to tell me what happened?"

"I know I should. It's just ... I wanted to escape even for a little while, but I've come to realize that I'm just running away and I hate myself for that."

"So then are you not going to go back?"

"No, I have to. Fairy Tail is my home and I won't give it up, even if Natsu does love another."

"So it is the fire brain." Lucy nodded and sighed. "So what'd he do?"

Lucy sighed even louder as Plue, who'd been lounging by the side of the pool, came over and plopped into her arms. "It's a long story."

"Hey, the way I see it, we've all the time in the world until dinner. Then you're on your own." Lucy smiled and recounted the tale since her last mission for April.

"So you see, his mate must be Lisanna, there is no other explanation." April was silent for a long time. Lucy looked to her for a reply but all the girl did was stand up and climb out of the hot tube to dry off.

"Yeah, I guess I can see where you're coming from, but Lucy it just doesn't add up."

"What doesn't?"

"I mean, you're convinced that all your friends and even your own instincts are wrong. But even I have to say based on everything in your story, except for the last part of course, makes me think you're his mate too."

"But April he kissed Lisanna!"

"But Lucy, we live in a world of magic! You honestly can't think of some other explanation?" Lucy stopped dead and wondered herself. It was true. There might be another explanation.

"Listen Lucy, in four days bored that train and head home. Then go to the guild hall you're so proud of and demand answers. Beat it out of that partner of yours if you have to. If he truly loves this Lisanna girl, then sure, you were right and everyone else was wrong. However, based on what you told me it sounds like he was just humoring an old friend that he was actually becoming annoyed with."

"You're reading between the lines again April," Lucy said, climbing out of the hot tube herself.

"Yep, and you're being too literal in the delivery of the facts." It was an old book argument between them and they laughed about it all the way to dinner. Four days later, April watched Lucy buy a ticket to Magnolia and board the train. They exchanged promises to continue to write and April watched her friend disappear. Her smile vanished with the train and she became worried. There was no guarantee that Lucy would actually go to Magnolia. Even if she did, April had seen Lucy stealing herself for something major. It had almost been like watching her prepare for her execution of something. That Natsu sure had done a number on her friend.

* * *

On the same day that Lucy finally told her friend April about her situation, the guild had to watch an exhausted and pissed Natsu stalk into the guild hall. He downed an entire pint of fire whisky, and then left again for heave knew where. Ever since Lucy had ran off it had been the same routine. He'd found no clues at Lucy's apartment and so he'd made a list of all the places Lucy liked to go or old friends she'd mentioned. He'd systematically gone to each place on his list over the last ten days. Enduring countless bouts of motion sickness just to be disappointed to find her not there. Many of her friends or past associates had been worried that he wouldn't believe them because he looked about ready to get answers no matter the cost. However, all he had to do was smell around to know she wasn't there.

Natsu trudged to Lucy's apartment and climbed through the window. He dropped on her bed and took a deep breath. This was the only way he could sleep now. He'd tried his own place, but it was no good. He had to be surrounded by her scent to calm down enough to go into some type of sleep, even if it wasn't restful at all. He did find sleep that night only to have it cut short by Gray and Erza. Natsu awoke to see Gray making ice sculptures and Erza sharpening her sword.

"What do you want?"

"We want to know if you're going to continue these fruitless searches?" Gray answered, watching his ice swan melt.

"Or if you're going to be strategic for once and just wait for her."

"Wait for her!" Natsu cried, sitting up. "I can't Erza! I have to find her!"

"Natsu, look at yourself." Erza grabbed him and dragged him to the mirror. He didn't recognize himself. He had dark bags under his eyes, his hair was in complete disarray, and he was suddenly aware that the rotting odor was himself. "You are in no condition to continue."

"But I have to find her, Erza! I have to tell her…"

"And you will Natsu," Gray interjected, "but you're just going to have to trust that she'll come back like she promised. Have you ever known Lucy to break her promises?" Natsu thought about this, only to shake his head. No, Lucy never had.

"Good, then you will remain here for the next four days. However, as of right now, you will bathe."

"What!" Erza picked Natsu up and threw him into the bathtub, clothes and all and then left. He heard them leave shortly afterwards and consented to their wishes. He bathed properly, but only because he wanted to be presentable to Lucy when she returned. He then went back to her bed and slept through the night.

The next day, Erza and Gray were not surprised to see Natsu perched on the top of the guild hall, watching and waiting. Erza sighed and Gray turned a worried look towards Juvia who'd come up beside them. Yes, they'd gotten Natsu to agree to stay but that didn't mean that he'd do it like a normal person.

For those three days, Natsu became a recluse. He only came down to eat and do his business, but otherwise, he stayed put. He even slept up there. On the first night, Mira, Gray, Juvia, and Erza had climbed to the top to see if he would need anything, only to find him already asleep, wrapped up in Lucy's comforter.

"Lucy's going to be pissed," Gray said as they came down.

"Perhaps, but I think that Lucy will also think it cute and beautiful." Mira said, swooning. The other two girls nodded their consent and Gray had to agree with them that in his own way Natsu had become quite the romantic. So, it seemed odd to everyone that when Lucy finally showed up, Natsu wasn't there to greet her.

Lucy came walking through the doors of the guild hall around noon on the fourteenth day of her disappearance. Everyone greeted her very happily and she was overwhelmed by the response.

"Gosh guys, I really hadn't realized that you'd miss me so much."

"Of course we missed you Lucy!" Mira cried. Her cry echoed throughout the guild and Natsu's ears twitched. He'd fallen asleep because he'd barely slept the night before. When the clock had struck midnight, Natsu's imagination had begun to go wild. He wondered if she'd come during the night and so he decided to not sleep until she returned. This of course had backfired and he had fallen asleep around dawn.

Now, hearing Mira's cry, he jumped up and looked around in confusion. His senses were on overdrive and it was his that nose told him what he wanted to know. He got a whiff of the air and smelled for the first time in two weeks that unique scent. Lucy was back! He could pick out her scent a mile away. Natsu ran for the trap door, but was horrified to find it locked. Someone had locked it from the inside. It had actually been Gajeel. He was trying to make sure that when Natsu finally got to Lucy he'd be so riled up that he'd make his move, allowing Gajeel to win his bet. Natsu yanked and pulled with all his might as Happy flew up to the top where Natsu was busy wrenching open the door. With a cry of triumph, Natsu freed the door from its hinges throwing it backward, almost hitting Happy in the process.

"Natsu! Lucy's back!"

"I know Happy!" Natsu ran down the stairs at a blinding speed. He'd finally see her! His Lucy was just down stairs and when he saw her again, he'd make sure she didn't leave his sight until she promised never to leave without him again. Natsu was happier than he had been for weeks at just the thought of seeing her again and this elation seemed to send him all the faster down the stairs.

However, Lucy was having much darker thoughts. While on her trip, Lucy had bought a magical potion in Marigold. She liked to visit the magical shops at all the towns she'd travel through and when she walked into that one, she found herself wandering through the potions section. She was just about to leave, when a potion in a black bottle caught her eye. It had been called forget-me-not and when she read what it did, she bought a dose worth right away. It claimed to make you forget the one thing or person that had hurt you the most. Lucy had been shocked to discover that it was in a powder, not liquid like most. When she'd said as much to the shop attendant, he'd smiled sweetly and nodded.

"Too many folks making rash decisions right away and drinking it as soon as they bought it before they can give it a good hard thought. This way it forces them to think about it before they do anything."

"So how do I use it, if I do decide to take it?"

"Just add it to a drink sweet enough to mask such a bitter taste." She'd thanked the attendant and had gone to meet with April to board the train. She'd thought about using it while on the train, but she'd chickened out. Instead, she made a deal with herself. If Natsu was there to greet her when she returned, she'd not take it and see where the chips fell, but if he weren't then they weren't meant to be. After all, it'd probably meant that he and Lisanna had mated and were elsewhere.

Seeing neither Natsu or Lisanna confirmed Lucy's fears and she sighed. She never thought that she'd be so cowardice as to run from her emotions like this, but having her heart shattered was worse than she'd ever thought. Sure, she'd experienced something similar when Fairy Tail had disbanded and Natsu had left for a year, but this was worse. No, she'd forget him. After all, it was better this way. Natsu would not let her live without him. He'd make sure to keep the friendship going regardless if she remembered him or not. After all, it wasn't like she'd be a different person, she'd just meet her best friend all over again. But this time he'd already be mated and hopefully she wouldn't be foolish enough to fall for a married guy.

'Yeah right,' an inner voice said, 'you'll always love him, but he'll already be taken the next time you meet him. Thankfully when you find yourself heartbroken all over again, you won't have the added misfortune of your hope destroyed.'

"Mira, could I have some juice?" Lucy asked as she sat.

"Sure thing Lucy. What kind?"

"Any, I'm not being picky." Mira nodded, but something in Lucy's tone told her to be weary. Smiling, but watching carefully, she handed Lucy the drink. Lucy thanked her and then steeled herself. She took a few sips and waited for Mira's piercing gaze to drift elsewhere. If Lucy had been paying attention when this finally happened, she'd have heard his voice yelling her name like it was a life line.

She quickly took the pouch from her pocket and poured it into her drink. She looked at it for a moment and sighed. She knew deep down that it wasn't the right thing, but she didn't know how to deal with this kind of pain. "Good-bye, Natsu," she whispered to her drink and raised it to her lips.

"Lucy!" Natsu cried, crashing into her. He picked her up in one smooth motion and whipped her around. The cup she'd been holding went flying and hit Gray smack in the face. Everyone was waiting for him to start something with Natsu, but even Gray knew that right now was too special. He'd wait until after the fire brain had done what he needed to do, then get his revenge.

"Natsu, what…" Lucy was suddenly on her feet again and Natsu grabbed her face, peering into it with such a look that she thought her own heart had stopped.

"Lucy, I missed you so much! How could you just go away like that? I thought we were partners!" His face had gone from elation, to anger, to hurt, so quickly that Lucy's head was spinning. It didn't help when Natsu placed his forehead to hers and peered even more closely into her eyes. Meanwhile, the guild had made popcorn and everyone ate while watching. Elfman was strategically wiping his eyes and others were placing bets. Gajeel grunted as Levy leaned into him, hugging and squeezing his arm, remembering their moment.

"We are partners Natsu," Lucy finally said. She tried to look anywhere but Natsu, but it was kind of hard when he looked at her like that. Like she was his reason for breathing. "I just needed a break, some vacation time, you know."

"Well that's fine Lucy, I can understand taking a break." Natsu pulled back a little and one of his thumbs absentmindedly rubbed her cheek. Lucy closed her eyes as chills lit up her senses. She needed to stop this now, or else she'd never be able to move on.

"Natsu…"

"But you have to take me along next time. We can leave Happy behind if you want."

"Hey," the exceed cried, but even for him, there was little heart in it.

"That's not it Natsu. I just needed some time to myself, away from everyone."

"But you can't mean me."

"Yes Natsu, I can mean you. Surely I'm allowed to want some time away from you." Natsu stepped back in betrayal and a look of true devastation set in. Everyone was shocked. They'd all thought that they'd be seeing another dragon mating ceremony today, not a devastatingly awkward heart break.

"But Lucy, I thought we were partners."

"We are Natsu! I love being partners with you, even though you destroy everything. I wouldn't want another one. I just needed a break from the partnership for a while." Natsu nodded, some of his hurt evaporating.

"Okay sure, but I thought that more importantly, we were friends. Best friends."

This was more dangerous territory than the last statement, but Lucy couldn't leave him without reassuring him a little. He looked so broken. "We are friends Natsu, the best of friends. I'd never want, nor find a better one." Some of Natsu's smile returned to his eyes and Lucy sighed in relief. This was going to work out, except for the fact that she was completely in-love with the idiot and he loved another, probably mated her by now too.

Lucy turned back to the entrance and started walking away. "Where are you going?" If Lucy hadn't known him better, she could have sworn he almost sounded panicked.

"Home, I'm tired and I need a bath. Besides I'm sure you need to spend some time with Lisanna today." A collective breath was taken by the guild.

"She doesn't know," Elfman whispered.

"Yeah, and she calls Natsu thick," Gajeel said back.

"This is better than any game show." Max commented, wondering if people would pay to see this kind of thing.

"It's just so beautiful," Elfman whimpered softly, and stopped trying to hide his tears. His manly tears of worriment, he'd later call them.

"Lisanna? Why would I see her?" Natsu's confusion and hurt was quickly turning to anger and he stalked forward, determined to stop her.

Something in his voice made Lucy turn around and stare at him in her own confusion. "Because you love her. She's your mate."

"My Mate!" Natsu roared. Lucy took a step back in confusion as Natsu jumped onto the nearest table and began pacing. Lucy registered two things at once. One, Natsu was burning his shoe prints into the table. Two, Lisanna slowly making her way into Lucy's line of vision. Looking more guilty than Lucy ever thought anyone could look, Lisanna mouthed the words, 'I'm sorry.' Then for a split second, Lisanna became her twin. Lucy normally would have been furious but her attention was quickly taken by Natsu again and Lisanna was forgotten.

"Lisanna is not my mate, Lucy!" Natsu argued. "I'd want my mate to be strong, compassionate, kind, and loyal. I'd want her to put others before herself and yet be stubborn as a boar. I'd want her to be able to win regardless of the odds with either power or brains, hopefully both."

"But Lisanna has those qualities." Natsu turned his dangerous stare towards her and grabbed her gently but firmly, pulling her on top of the table with him. He grabbed her face again and spoke fiercely.

"I'd want her to cry at books whenever the hero is in danger. I'd want her to stand on her own two feet, without the help of her family name or money. I'd want her to make a big fuse and a lot of noise, but only because she's trying to hide her own amusement and love for the place and people around her. I'd want her to always tell me I was being a pervert when I snuck into her bed at night, but let me stay anyway because she doesn't have the heart to throw me out after a tiring day."

The guild hall was silent. You could hear a pin drop. Lisanna, who would have been devastated by such a speech two weeks ago, smiled conceding defeat. He really did love her and for the first time she was aware that her idea of love and what love truly was were different. It was time that she found that for herself.

Lucy, having finally put it all together was shocked. She'd never thought that he'd say all that, she never thought that he could or even would. Still there was doubt that wouldn't go away. So, Lucy played a card she hoped wouldn't back fire.

"Natsu, I still don't understand."

"You Lucy!" He pulled her face closer to his and allowed the next statement to be breathed more than said. An action that sent tingles across her lips. "I love you. You're my mate."

"I am?"

"Yes." That was so Natsu, saying such an important sentiment in such few words, and so nonchalantly. A brilliant smile broke out on her face and Lucy closed the gap between their lips.

She pulled back before Natsu had a chance to respond. "I love you too, you idiot." A cheer so deafening rose up from the guild, but both Lucy and Natsu ignored them as Natsu recaptured Lucy's lips. It was a passionate kiss. If Lucy hadn't known better, she'd have sworn that he'd been kissing lots of women. His lips were warm and chapped, but she'd expected nothing less. His hands knotted in her hair, as she brought her arms around his neck. Things would have gone on like that for a while, except Gajeel suddenly knocked on the table.

"Hey firebreath! Keep that to the bedroom! We need that table for the reception."

"Reception?" Lucy breathed. Natsu, she noticed tensed up as Gajeel turned his gaze to her. Right, the mating side effects.

"Yeah reception. We pretty much figured this was going to happen as soon as you returned, so we had the whole thing planned." Gajeel walked off, much to the relief of Natsu. Mira took over from there.

"And if it hadn't happened, we were just going to have a Lucy has returned party." Lucy smiled as she was helped down from the table.

"Come on Luce," Levy said taking her arm. "Let's get you dressed and ready to party!" Lucy found that this meant that she had to call out Virgo and Cancer to prepare her, but she was delighted by the transformation. Her dress was skin tight, even by her standards and was the perfect shade of blue to complement her eyes and hair. Her blond hair had been placed into a beautiful up-do with ringlets of curls falling down her back.

When Lucy returned to the party, she found that Natsu had also been transformed by being forced into some actual clothes. These too were skin tight and hinted to all the toned muscles that she knew were there. Lucy had had time to think in the other room while being prepared and she realized that she had some misgivings about sleeping with Natsu that night. Yeah, by dragon slayer standards, this was their wedding. Once he gave her his mark, probably sometime at the reception, the only thing left to do was, well each other. But still, they'd just started kissing. Now however, one good look was enough to know that she was definitely going to be helping him remove those clothes. When she made eye contact with the object of her affections, she saw that he was thinking the same thing. His heated gaze made her shiver and she turned to a smiling, all knowing Levy.

"You'll be fine. Besides, that small magical bond between you now will only increase the pleasure."

"So the bond is real?"

"Definitely. Can't you feel it?" Lucy thought for a moment, as she moved towards the table set for them.

"No, not really. What should I be feeling?"

"It's hard to explain. To me it feels like a tug to the heart. Some other presence there in your chest. You can't communicate through it, but it can let you feel strong emotions and some legends even say that in dire times the bond can be used to help a dragon slayer or his mate find one another."

"Oh." Lucy said, sitting at the table, just as Natsu took his seat. Lucy noticed that he pushed his chair as close to hers as possible. She smiled up at him, as he made sure that their legs were touching under the table and the night's festivities began. There was drinking and dancing, Lucy and Natsu doing both. She'd been delighted when Natsu had actually asked her to dance, but she had a feeling it was because he'd sensed her desire to and was making sure none of the other guys even got a chance.

Towards the end of the evening, Gajeel and Gray found themselves near one another as they watched Natsu and Lucy talk up at the head table. The crowd was quieting because Natsu was preparing to give Lucy his mark. Gajeel and Levy had chosen to do this part privately, but Natsu was determined to shout to the world that this woman was his. However, Gajeel could tell that Natsu was about to have enough of the party. He was ready to have his mate all to himself and Gajeel smirked, throwing a glance towards Levy. Yeah, he'd remembered how he'd whisked Levy away as quickly as he could that night.

"He looks happy," Gray commented next to him.

"He is. There is nothing that makes a dragon slayer happier than to have his mate there by his side."

"I don't like it. Usually I'm trying to make Natsu unhappy, or at least annoyed. Allowing him to be so happy just feels wrong."

Gajeel snorted and threw a glare towards Gray. "You have some serious issues ice princess. I mean, I thought you guys were friends."

"We are. I'm just saying it's weird."

"You're just jealous because Natsu has his mate now and you aren't even dating anyone."

"I don't like Lucy like that!"

"I never said you did! Besides, you're a dead man if you even tried it now."

"Yeah, that would make him angry wouldn't it?" Gajeel heard the thinking tone in Gray's voice and he shook his head.

"Oh no, frozen heart, don't try that. It may be fun for a second, but you'd just hurt some people in the process."

"Sounds like my kind of challenge." Gray stood and approached Lucy and Natsu. He waited to the side of the stage as Natsu held up Lucy's wrist. He took a breath concentrating for a moment before there was a bright, fiery light. When people's eyes cleared, a mark like twirling flames branded her wrist and Natsu held up his matching mark. A cheer arose from the crowd. Gray waited for the crowd's cheers to subside before he step up onto the stage. Natsu saw him coming and smiled.

"Hey man, yah here to congratulate me?"

"Naw, I'm here to congratulate Lucy." He picked up Lucy's hand, and to her eternal shock and horror, he kissed her hand.

"Hey!" Natsu leap over the table and shoved Gray away.

"Natsu! Gray! Stop it!" Lucy cried, running around the table.

"Hey yourself, fire breather!"

"You want to fight!"

"Yeah, let's do this!" Gray ripped off his shirt and Natsu got into his stance, hands blazing, when Lucy stepped in between them.

"Stop! This is my reception too! I want it to be peaceful, is that understood!" Natsu immediately stood and let his hands turn back to normal. He nodded, but kept his burning gaze on Gray as Lucy stepped towards him.

Gray wasn't entirely sure what happened next. He wanted to fight Natsu more than he'd ever wanted to fight him before. Something inside him was aching. He wasn't sure what, but he needed Natsu to fight him and he needed to fight Natsu. The alternative hurt too much. Some part of him would later admit that he was probably upset at the fact that he was, in a way, losing his two best friends. Nothing would ever be the same and if he were going to hurt over it, well so were they.

So Gray, to his forever shame, grabbed Lucy and kissed her on the lips. Lucy gasped and stepped back, truly horrified. Gray got a good look at that just as she slapped him harder than she'd ever hit him before and Natsu slammed him with his fire fists. Gray fell off the platform with Natsu on top of him. As soon as they landed, Natsu punched him over and over again. He was deadly serious this time and Gray was actually beginning to fear for his well-being. Thankfully, two pairs of hands grabbed him under his arms and hauled him up. There was a great commotion as Gray was led from the hall and dropped into the pool by Gajeel and Elfman.

"That's enough Gray!" Elfman roared.

"Yeah man, whatever is eating you, just lay off. I don't think you realize what kind of damage you've just done in there." Gajeel growled. Finally able to think, Gray thought back to Lucy's look of horror just before she slapped him and Natsu's look of actual hatred. It became startling clear that he'd just ruined his best friendships, at least for a little while. They'd both forgive him in time he knew, but he still felt like a jerk. He paddled over to the edge of the pool, leaning against the side, watching as Elfman and Gajeel reentered the party. He already felt terrible, but as the doors closed, he saw something that actually felt like it fractured his heart. Juvia was standing there watching him as she listened to the music of the last dance, which he'd promised to dance with her. He saw un-shed tears in her heart-shattered eyes. The doors closed on the scene and Gray wished he could die. More importantly, he wished he could stop himself from realizing that for once Natsu had been the bigger man.

* * *

Without Gray's presence, the party went back to normal, except now Natsu was practically growling as the other men moved around them. He wouldn't be able to stand them near her until the bond was complete. The only ones he allowed near Lucy, even begrudgingly, were Master Makarov and Gajeel. Since Gajeel was mated and wouldn't try anything on Lucy and Master Makarov was just too plain old.

Sensing that he was at his breaking point, Lucy decided to leave with Natsu. She needed to get him home soon or he was going to snap. What was wrong with Gray?! He'd ruined a perfectly wonderful evening. Finally making it through the crowd, Lucy sighed as she felt the fresh air on her face.

"I hate that guy! Let me kill him, Lucy!"

"No, you don't hate him Natsu. He just made you mad."

"But he kissed you!" Lucy spun and kissed Natsu, as passionately as she could, which seemed to distract him from his rage. Natsu kissed her back with great gusto. Lucy found herself forgetting all about Gray, as Natsu pushed her up against the wall. Things heated up very quickly and Lucy found herself in a world of sensory overload. She'd never thought in a million years that she could feel this way from just kissing someone. When Natsu moved his lips from hers to her neck, she finally realized that if they didn't leave for her apartment then and there, Natsu and her might finish the bond on the entrance of Fairy Tail.

"Natsu, I'd much rather a bed for such activities." He growled low in his chest and he looked up at her.

"So then, you'll let me mate you, for real?" Lucy smiled and took Natsu's hand, leading him to her apartment.

"Yes, I might even let you come back and pummel Gray into the ground after we're done."

Natsu laughed and started dragging her instead. He turned back towards her and smiled. "Trust me Lucy, once I get you into that bed, I'm not leaving." She smiled back and they raced together.

As they ran through the streets, a dark figure watched from the top of a building. She watched them turn a corner and then cast a spell that showed her two other dark figures standing in Lucy's apartment. "They're almost there. Be ready. That ice fool already has the Salamander riled up. He may be harder to subdue than we were hoping."

"We'll take care of him, don't worry," one of them answered and the spell ended.


	8. Chapter 7

Hi Guys,

Here is the update. The story is taking a twist from here on out. Anyway, thanks to everyone who has been following the story thus far. As always, I'll make sure to update within the next few days.

\- Singed

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

* * *

 _The front door slammed as Natsu pushed Lucy against the nearest wall. His hands were everywhere. He was taking her given permission completely. Lucy smiled at how Natsu that was. No self-doubt or hesitation once he knew that what he wanted was permitted. Lucy wasn't complaining and while he was busy exploring, she was busy loosening his shirt for him. He seemed to catch her drift and was busy fumbling with her dress. Suddenly he stopped. He went completely rigid and his eyes turned molten as a growl of anger shot through him._

 _"_ _Natsu?" She never got an answer. He pushed her even further into the wall and ran into her living room, lighting it up with his hands. Lucy saw a dark figure engage him in battle. Natsu wasn't playing around. In most of the other battles she'd seen, he'd always started off slow and then brought out his true power. This time he was in it for the kill. Lucy, realizing he might need help grabbed her keys, but when she brought them up a hand gripped her wrist._

 _"_ _No, no Princess, we can't have that."_

 _"_ _Wha…" She said no more as a powerful wave of sleep passed over her. She realized it was a spell, but what concerned her was that it seemed to go straight for that new place in her chest, the one that held Natsu._

 _Lucy had slumped to the floor, something Natsu noticed immediately. He'd registered this a few nanoseconds after the spell had hit her and with a strength and rage he didn't know he had or how to properly control, sent his current opponent flying through the wall and out into the street below._

 _"_ _Rinel!" The other called. The Lucy's assailant turned his anger on Natsu as he ran to protect her. That was when the sleep spell hit the bond. Natsu staggered and slumped, still reaching for Lucy. Lucy, tried to reach out for him too, but the assailant stepped on Natsu's hand, snapping his fingers._

 _Lucy cried out with him in sympathy and the dark clocked figure leaned down over the pink haired dragon slayer. "I hope you enjoyed your time with your mate. It's all you'll get for a while." Then he stood and picked Lucy up._

 _"_ _Luuu…" Natsu tried, pushing against the ground to run after them. But Lucy knew that it was too late. The last thing she saw was him trying to go after her while his eyes drifted shut._

* * *

"Natsu!" Lucy shot up, panting. A dream, she realized, just a horrible dream. Closing her eyes, she put her hands to her heart and took a deep breath. She took another and thought. Okay, she knew that she'd gotten back to the guild after her stay with April. That she knew was real. She also knew that their dragon slayer ceremony was real, as was the reception. They were far too palpable in her mind. They didn't have a dream like quality at all. Okay, so why couldn't see remember what happened after they left the reception?

Things were getting pretty hot and steamy between them and that was the one thing she wanted to remember. In fact, where was Natsu? Shouldn't he be wondering why she'd woken so suddenly and in such panic? Suddenly, she was aware of the noises and smells of her surroundings. The drip of a leaky pipe, mold and must, dirt and unwashed bodies. This was not her apartment.

Opening her eyes, Lucy's panic returned. She could now see that she was in a poorly lit room and wasn't in her bed at all but a cot. She reached out, hoping against hope to find Natsu, but he wasn't there. Then it all made sense, making Lucy close her eyes in realization. Her dream had been a memory. An enemy had strategically attacked them when they'd be their most distracted and now, now she was somewhere hidden and Natsu wasn't anywhere near her.

Abruptly, her door was opened and a maid came walking in. She was a little younger than Lucy and her chestnut hair was pulled back into a bun. Her features were delicate and she would have been pretty if she'd carried herself with any kind of self-confidence. She carried a tray with some food and what smelled like tea.

Lucy stood quickly, taking a stance that would allow her to fight or run, depending on what was necessary. However, her planned move did not go smoothly. Her legs buckled, stiff, as if she hadn't used them for days. The maid saw the move and stopped.

"Miss," she began, a slight tremor in her voice, "the master bids you welcome and has sent me to you with breakfast and tea."

"Who is this master?"

"I just call him the master miss, you may know him by another name, but perhaps not." Lucy was both confused and annoyed at the maid's deflection of her question.

"Well, what does he want with me?"

The maid shrugged as best she could and shut the door as she placed the food on the table next to Lucy. She clapped her hands and a light appeared in the room. It was little more than a nasty storage closet and Lucy grimaced as she took it all in.

"My orders miss, are to make sure you eat, bathe, and then show you to the master. There he will explain to you all you need to know."

"Why can't you just take me now?"

"Because the master says that you must eat and bathe first. Until you do you are not to meet him." The maid stood back and Lucy realized that she would wait until Lucy had eaten. Angrily, Lucy took up a piece of toast and tore into it. It was then that she realized how hungry she actually was. She forgot the maid for a moment and ate her entire plate in about five minutes, sipping tea between bits. The maid looked slightly horrified, but stayed silent and Lucy smirked. When she was done, the maid motioned for her to follow and Lucy did as told. As soon as Lucy stepped through the door, a spell was cast on her. She wasn't sure what, but the raw magic was unmistakable.

"What was that?"

"A spell the master devised to make sure that you don't leave the grounds or my presence. Now follow me miss."

Lucy sighed and followed. As she did, she became aware that the bad body odor she'd smelled in the room was actually coming from her. How long had she'd been asleep? She was marched down corridor after corridor. It unnerved her but only because in all that time they never actually passed anyone else. She was used to overly large houses but they were usually well staffed. This one only seemed to have Lucy, the maid, and the master. It struck Lucy that this might make a good book title when the maid stopped and motioned to a door.

Lucy entered only to freeze. It was beautiful. The bathing area looked like a public bathing house in scope and size, but it was decorated with the most exquisite taste and Lucy had to wonder how rich this guy actually was. The maid pointed her to a separate room where an outfit laid for her to don after her bath. Lucy had planned on simply bathing as fast as humanly possible, but when she actually entered the water, she found that she never wanted to leave. It felt so good to be in water again and once again she wondered how long she'd been asleep. It felt like she hadn't taken a bath in forever. She scrubbed and scrubbed until she finally felt clean and then tried on the outfit put out for her. She was shocked to realize that it was one of her own. In fact, it was the one she'd been in when Natsu and she had confessed their feelings for each other, right before the reception.

As she looked at herself in the mirror, flashbacks into all her old adventures with him started playing and she crumpled to the floor, crying. She missed him. It had hit her hard and seemingly out of nowhere. She missed him worse than she could explain. In desperation, she latched onto the bond between them. She just wanted to feel something of him, but suddenly it jolted. She stood in shock and could feel something akin to rage, desperation, and a heart wrenching sadness break through what had just seconds before been a very quiet bond.

As she stood there in confusion, the maid came running back in and she grabbed Lucy. "Please come miss! The master is angry now and is demanding your presence." The maid pulled her along until they reached a set of double doors that reached from floor to ceiling.

"Emma!" An angered voice screeched, causing the maid to cringe, "get in here with her immediately!"

"Come on miss," she whispered and pushed the door opened, pulling Lucy through. The room was remarkable, but Lucy's attention was caught by the man at the far end of it. He was tall and impressive, but his face was … missing. Yep, down right missing. It was just a slab of flesh, but Lucy got the distinct feeling that this was just a spell to hide his identity.

"Master, here is Lucy, as you requested."

"Thank you Emma, you may go." She scuttled out as fast as possible, while the faceless man took his seat. Lucy stood watching him, refusing to take her own.

"You must be confused," he finally said.

"That's one way to put it. You could also add angry and determined to get back to my guild and friends."

"Ahh, yes, and I'm sure what you really mean is that worthless mate of yours, Natsu Dragneel." Lucy did not allow her face to show her true emotions at the mention of his name, but the man nodded his head.

"Yes, you love your guild, but he is your reason for everything. You should be happy to know that he feels the same, although such feelings have put your beloved mate into some considerable danger."

"What do you mean?"

"Perhaps, I should start from the beginning. For the last year, my spies have been reporting to me daily on the progress of Natsu. I knew that the only true way of defeating him was through his mate, if he ever found one. You can imagine my delight when I realized that he'd already found her well before his 21st birthday. Of course, I'm glad I did extensive research because the original plan was to simply kill you after the mating bond was complete."

Lucy took a step back and glared. It wasn't like she'd never heard a death threat before. Even though she couldn't see his face, she knew he was smiling. "Yes, but luckily for you, I realized that there was a better form of torment to be had. You see, my research led to this interesting little instance in dragon slayer history where a dragon slayer and her mate got separated soon after the ceremony that starts the bond, too soon for them to consummate the relationship. They searched and searched for each other, but it was to no avail. Really, it is a long boring tale, all you need to understand is that these dragon slayer bonds are a double edged sword."

"I don't understand."

"No, I wouldn't expect you to. I'll go slowly." Lucy glared all the harder. "I'll finish my story. They searched and searched, but as the time passed, the dragon slayer began to change. She grew more and more violet and began to see things that weren't there. Finally, on the one year anniversary of the ceremony the dragon slayer went insane. She killed her friends that were with her and started a line of destruction that lead back to her home town. She destroyed her home town, killing everyone she could find. The mate, who'd heard of the destruction followed it back to the town and was horrified at what he found. The dragon slayer was oblivious to what she'd done. She was simply ecstatic at having her love back. Realizing what he had to do, he mated her. He realized it was the only way to bring back her sanity.

Unfortunately for them, when she came back to her senses and realized what she'd done, she killed herself. The mate who was now completely bound to her felt like a piece of his soul was missing when she died. So the mate committed suicide as well shortly after." Lucy sat in horror and just stared at him.

"As I'm sure you've figured out by now, I plan to recreate this little piece of history. I've taken you from Natsu and plan to keep you here. See, a dragon slayer's mating is very powerful magic, but if not allowed to complete once started literally drives the dragon slayer to fulfill the bond at all cost. The logic goes that if the bond is not completed within a year than something or someone must be in the way and thus must be destroyed."

Lucy was speechless and she took a moment to think things over. She really didn't believe this guy. It sounded more like a legend, not history. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that he believed every word he said. Lucy decided that she was done playing around. "Who cares, like I believe you! You've forgotten some basic dragon slayer traits. Natsu has amazing hearing and sense of smell. He'll hunt me down like a bloodhound now that your sleep spell is broken."

The man grumbled, but surprisingly, it turned into a laugh. "Yes, I will say that I hadn't expected you to come out of the sleep spell quite so quickly. No matter, I still got enough of your hair to scatter it across Fiore."

Lucy's hands flew to her head, "My hair?" She hadn't noticed before, even in the bath, but her hair was shorter than she remembered it.

"Yes, your mate will be searching for you endlessly so we had to scatter your scent. It will be a close call, especially since you woke a month or two earlier than I was hoping for, but four months was still plenty of time to get my plans in order."

Lucy's world shrunk as she stood. She stared at her captor. "Four months?"

"Yes my dear. You've been in a state of perfect hibernation, as has your mate. It is a spell that would have worked poorly on Natsu. Those dragon scales of is lay so close under his skin. They would have deflected most of it, but sent through the bond, it worked like a charm."

"So Natsu and I have been asleep for four months."

"Yes. In fact you woke him up when you touched the bond earlier. Once again, I had hoped to give him much less time to find you, but really, if it comes to a battle, I'll handle it." Lucy sat hard on the chair and tried to come out of her shock. She'd been asleep for four months, but more importantly, he'd been awoken just a short time ago. He had eight months to find her. He could do that. If there was one thing Natsu was, it was persistent.

"So now what?" Lucy finally asked.

"Now we settle you in for your long stay. I've had Emma set aside a suite for you. You shall be given every wish your heart desires while here, except of course your wish to leave the grounds. If you should like to peruse the grounds, Emma or Mikel must accompany you. Otherwise, you are free to do as you please."

"Why keep me so comfortable if you just hope I'll kill myself in the end?"

"Because those celestial spirits of yours are troublesome. I've already had to deal with them twice as they tried to break you out when you had a few recurring nightmares. So, I have to keep you comfortable or they'll find a way to cross over."

"Where are my keys?"

"Somewhere safe. Once you're dead I can sell them to the highest bidder, but while you're still alive there is very little chance for that." He stood and went to the window behind him. Lucy saw majestic mountains in the background and a forest that stretched far into the distance.

"Why are you doing this?" Lucy finally asked.

He stiffened slightly, but finally just shrugged. "My reasons are my own. But, I will be quite happy when both of you are dead. Now go. I'll summon you if need be. Though do keep in mind, that probably won't be a pleasant experience for you. I maybe treating you civilly, but you are still my enemy." He said no more and Lucy knew she was dismissed. She stood and left as quickly as possible. Emma waited outside for her and led her down a new hallway. They reached the room soon enough and Emma led her in, shutting the door behind Lucy. Lucy wasn't entirely sure how long she stood there, just staring. A panic was slowly starting somewhere deep in her gut. This was all too familiar. This was how she lived for sixteen years, a prisoner in a house. She walked to the closet, where it was full of beautiful dresses and shoes. The desk held everything a privilege lady could want, make-up, jewelry, writing utensils, even an empty journal. The bed was large and arranged so she could see out her French doors onto the balcony that oversaw a section of garden.

The panic was growing with each new detail. She was a prisoner again. She was being forced to play that part again, a part she never wanted and always hated. She wasn't sure where the scream came from, but when it tore from her throat, she found that it also tore rage from her body. She threw anything she could get her hands on, ripped apart all the dresses, and smashed whatever would give a satisfying crunch. Finally, she sat in exhaustion and watched as a magic began to repair everything, piece by piece. The rage turned to sorrow and Lucy curled up where she laid on the floor and cried. She cried for her imprisonment, but mostly she cried because Natsu wasn't there. She cried because Natsu was in danger because she'd been captured. She cried because they loved each other and they finally could have been happy, but it's been stolen from them.

* * *

"LLLUUUUUCCCYYYYY!" Natsu roared as he shot from the bed. His senses were on overdrive. He was not in her apartment, which was the last thing he remembered. Someone took her! Someone had taken her and put him to sleep. They were dead! He was going to personally watch their life leave their eyes for this. He sensed people running to his room. He was in the guild infirmary. People would just complicate things. He needed to get information before they came running in. He took a deep whiff of the air and learned some very important things. One, he stank, horribly. It smelled like he'd been sleeping for three to four months. He growled at that and began to pace. He'd been asleep that long? That was unforgivable. He needed to find Lucy now!

The other thing he learned was that his fire was low. He could feel it, but it had never been this low before. He needed to eat some and soon. This furthered his conviction that he'd been asleep for far too long. The season smell had also changed. It smelled of fall, it had been the summer when he'd last been aware. But the worst was that he could not smell Lucy on the air at all. He closed his eyes in defeat. He'd been asleep for months and in that time, what had become of Lucy? His senses told him that she was alive. He'd know if she wasn't.

"Natsu!" Wendy came in, a note of relief and happiness easing some of his tension.

"Wendy, how long have I been asleep?"

Wendy looked nervous, but Mira and Erza, who came in behind her, answered. "You've been asleep for a little over four months, Natsu." Erza answered.

"We were so worried. I'm so happily you're finally awake." Mira said, sighing.

"Have you found anything on Lucy?" Here the three went quiet as Master Makarov, Gajeel, and Levy walked in.

"No Natsu, we're not even sure what happened." Makarov said. "We just know that shortly after you left the party that you were attacked. Thankfully you made a bit of a mess or we'd not have known for days. We wouldn't have come by in dread of disturbing you." Natsu nodded, neither embarrassed nor surprised at the master's statement.

"Could you tell us what did happen?" Levy inquired. Natsu nodded and told them all he could. The more he spoke, the angrier he became.

"Gajeel," Levy finally said, with the conclusion of Natsu's story, "do you have any ideas?"

"No, but now that he's awake our searches will become more fruitful. Since she's his mate, his nose will be more attuned to her scent." Levy nodded and just crossed her arms.

"So what is the plan?" Mira asked.

"Natsu takes a bath," Gajeel started, "and then eats a few fireplaces worth of flames. Then, we set out. We have eight months and that's it to find her." The rest just nodded and Natsu was relieved that he wouldn't have to explain that to them. Every dragon slayer knew what happened to dragon slayers and their mates if the bond was not completed within a years' time.

Natsu, who wanted to be on the road that second realized that for now he'd have to give into some of their demands. Otherwise, they'd be less inclined to do what he wanted later. "Fine, I'll take the bath. But the fire needs to be ready by the time I'm out. I'm starving." He started to leave, when he turned back to the room, "However, we leave tonight. Or at least I am. I can't stay here one more night without knowing I'm doing something." Natsu marched out of the infirmary, aware of their stares and headed for the bathhouse. Happy chose that moment to come flying up the stairs.

"Natsu!" Happy flew straight into his chest and hugged him. It was the one bright point of his day and he actually smiled.

"Hey there little buddy. Did you miss me?"

"Aye!" Happy sobbed. "I miss Lucy too! We have to find her Natsu!"

Natsu's smiled disappeared and he nodded. "We will. Don't you worry Happy."

"But Natsu, I feel like we've already looked everywhere."

"Whose we?" In answer, Juvia and Gray came walking up the stairs. Both looked exhausted and saddened, but their faces lit up when they saw Natsu awake.

"It is good to see you awake, Natsu," Juvia said, but Natsu ignored her as he tackled Gray and held his flaming fist over his face.

"Natsu! What are you doing?"

"Where is she?!" He screamed. "You tried to take her that night and now she's gone! Where is she?!"

"Natsu, I had nothing to do with this! Snap out of it man, I was drunk." This was a lie, but one that had convinced some. Although the flinch he saw Juvia give told Gray that she wasn't one of those fooled.

"Liar! You wanted Lucy for yourself!"

"I never wanted Lucy man! She was always yours, anyone with eyes and common sense could see that!" This caused Natsu to calm ever so slightly and he leaned back. Calmer, Natsu began to run through the details of that night again. Yeah, Gray wasn't one of their attackers. He had never seen or smelled those guys before.

"I believe you, for now. It doesn't stop me from suspecting you of hiring them though." He pushed Gray down and stood. Walking to the baths, he did not bothering to turn around to see the shocked looks of his guild mates.

"Natsu," Happy whispered.

"I'm afraid the Natsu we'll be dealing with will be unstable from this point on. Not that he was ever that stable to begin with." Makarov said.

"Will we ever get the old Natsu back?" Mira asked.

"If and only if we find Lucy in time," Gajeel huffed, leaving the group to head down to the main floor. He needed a stiff drink, because he was sure that he was going to be dragged on this thing, along with Levy. He looked back at her as she followed and sighed. This was the worst possible timing ever. Normally, there'd be absolutely no question as to whether Levy would be coming with them, but Gajeel's nose never lied. He'd smelled the change in her scent a week ago. She was pregnant all right and she wasn't even aware of it yet. He'd have to tell her he supposed, but he'd kept his mouth shut because he knew she'd want to surprise him with the news. He'd even begun to plan how he'd act in happy surprise.

"Gajeel, what would you like?" Mira asked, taking her place behind the counter.

"Your strongest vodka." Mira looked surprised, but nodded. Levy came up and sat next to him.

"So, I've been making a list of all the things we'll have to bring with us. This will probably be a very dangerous and long mission. I've been thinking that…"

"You shouldn't come with us Levy," Gajeel said, accepting the drink from Mira.

"What?"

"You shouldn't come with us. You're right, this will be very dangerous."

"Listen Gajeel, I'm coming whether you like it or not! I'm a wizard and as such I deserve to be allowed on this mission. Plus, Lucy is a very dear friend. So you give me one good reason I shouldn't go."

Gajeel looked at Levy, as she stood there, her hands placed on her hips.

"You're pregnant," he whispered.

Levy's face changed immediately. "What?"

"I've known for about a week. Your scent, it changed." Levy's face went from shock, to joy, to concern and then steely determination.

"Well, then I'm still coming. After all, Lucy needs to be there at the birth as the godmother." Levy walked out and Gajeel motioned for Mira.

"Yes Gajeel?"

"Keep these coming Mira. I need to get wasted while I can."


	9. Chapter 8

Hey Guys,

The hunt begins! A lot of plot and character development happens in this chapter. As always, thanks for the reviews! You guys are awesome.

\- Singed

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

* * *

The master sat and stared at his walls. His fingers drumming against the desk. His plans were finally in motion, but a deep dissatisfaction still lingered. Standing he paced as he thought. Those two, the fire breather and the celestial wizard, had been his downfall and he suspected that they had no idea. It had been a few years ago, but that one failed plan caused by their meddling had lead him to lose his entire business. He'd owed a lot of money to some very powerful people and had unexpectedly found himself on the run for almost a year. During that time, he'd asked around when he could about the pair to try and plan his revenge. Then **_THEY_** had found him.

He grunted as he remembered waking up in an unfamiliar room. He hadn't been able to see anyone, but from the conversation that followed, he'd gathered that there were six other wizards in the room. They had a proposition for him. If he did as asked, they would pay off his debt and give him the satisfaction of revenge against Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia. He'd listened of course and when they were finished outlining the plan he'd agreed. After all it was simple. Kidnap the girl once he'd started showing signs of claiming her. Dangle her as bait, get him to come and once he was there use his mate to bend him to their will. Easy as pie.

Of course, this was where the plan started to sour for him. He wanted them both dead. Death revenge was the best revenge. You don't have someone coming back to get you, or figure a way out of the situation you had them in. They were just dead and you only had to worry about friends or family. According to his benefactors and spies, neither of them had any living family left just their guild. Guilds could be troublesome enough and he wasn't stupid. He might die in all this, but if he did he'd have the satisfaction of having killed them off.

Yeah, that was it. Forget the others. They'd already paid his debtors and they'd given him the freedom of choosing where and how he sprung the trap. So he'd gone back to his old hide out. It was equipped with more magical defenses than most government buildings. It would be a difficult thing to find him, and an even more difficult one to reach him. No, it was better off if he went rogue now. He'd kill them both and let the others figure out a new plan with a new dragon slayer. After all, there were others. They could live without this one.

* * *

 **A Month After Awaking**

Natsu swallowed his puke and looked out the window. He was sitting by himself, even Happy was sitting with Gray and Juvia as they talked about the next town. Natsu knew that he'd been a jerk to be around for the last month since his return to the world of the waking, but he was utterly miserable and he wasn't sure how to not act on it. He dreamed about her every night. In some dreams, they were together and happy, in others it was memories with her that made him so happy. But on the bad nights, it was the memories that terrified him. Every time she'd been captured, or hurt. And on the very worst nights, he dreamed of arriving to finally save her and she was already dead or killed right in front of him.

Natsu was also sick of this whole thing. He'd been traveling for a month straight with Gray, Juvia, Gajeel, Levy, Carla, and Wendy. It was a constant dead end followed by another train or boat ride. Natsu sighed and leaned his burning forehead against the window. When they'd originally left, he'd caught her scent pretty early on and raced as fast as his legs could take him to where it was coming from. It had led him to a deserted alley, where a box sat. It had been wrapped like a present with his name written on the top.

Her scent had been strong, but … distant was the only word he could think to describe it. He knew she lived, but he was terrified to open the box. He wasn't sure if these people had begun to cut pieces of her off. Juvia, seeming to understand his hesitation had picked up the box, but it zapped her with a lightning bolt.

"Juvia!" Gray had cried. The concern and desperation in his voice could not be mistaken. Even if Gray denied it, Natsu could tell that Gray loved her. His heart cried with the same concern and desperation every time he woke up and Lucy wasn't there with him. Natsu watched as Gray picked up her prone form and moved her to a safe distance. Wendy leaned over her and started checking her vitals, while Natsu looked back at the package. He could still hear Juvia's heartbeat, so he was only a little concerned for her well being.

Natsu reached for the box, knowing instinctively that it wouldn't zap him, and opened the lid in one movement. He had to get this done and over with. What lay inside was a piece of Lucy's hair tied in some ribbon. Shaking with relief, Natsu picked up the hair and held it to his chest like it was the most precious thing in the world. Suddenly a voice filled the alley way.

"Glad to see the hunt is on, Salamander." The voice greeted. "Rest assured that your Lucy is safe in my care. I'm afraid that I haven't made this hunt very easy for you however. You will find that I have left many of these packages around the entire country, some in towns, other in wildernesses, all of them smelling of her. Start hunting Salamander." The voice stopped and Natsu burnt the box to a crisp, before turning and walking out of the alley. They found an inn and had discussed what to do.

"Any ideas on how to handle this Levy," Natsu had finally asked, once the group had discussed the problem.

"Well, we have one advantage that he may or may not have foreseen. We have three dragon slayers. If you allowed them to hunt her scent with you, we could sniff out all the packages within a town and surrounding area much faster."

"Gajeel?" Gray asked, turning to him. Juvia was lying on the bed, nursing her hand. It had been badly burnt and being made of water, the electricity was making her body hard to heal for Wendy. Juvia was listening, but seemed completely unaware of how close Gray was to her, or that he kept checking over her shoulder to make sure she was fine. It was odd, Natsu thought, that Juvia would be completely ignorant of all this the one time it was shown.

Gajeel sighed and leaned back into his chair. "It's true, we could. But there is one problem. Natsu's nose is on overdrive right now. Wendy's and my smeller won't be as potent. I'd say, leave us to the ones in town and Natsu should hunt down the ones in the nearby area. Happy can transport him quickly out there."

"What about all the wilderness," Juvia finally whispered, clearly pained.

"I've already thought of that," Levy said, pulling out one of her books. Gajeel helped her move the overly large book of maps to the table. By now, everyone knew that Levy was pregnant even though she wasn't showing yet. It didn't stop Gajeel from being overly protective though. Levy found the map she desired and pointed out all the cities and towns on the continent. "See, most towns are separated by a stretch of forest, but only on average of ten or so miles. If Natsu flies in circles around the current town to a diameter of six miles out, we'll catch most of the wilderness between towns. Once we're done with all the cities and towns, then we can hit the larger pieces of wilderness by themselves."

"How long will that take?" Carla asked.

"Well, if we can keep to a schedule of two days per town and then one day to travel, it would take us about three and a half, four months." Natsu stood in agitation and paced. Levy cringed a little and Gajeel moved slightly to place himself between the two. Natsu was angry, but not at Levy. She had come up with the best plan and she'd done it without blinking, but it was too long! He needed to find Lucy now!

As if reading his thoughts, Gray said softly, "Come on Natsu, if we just go charging through the continent, then we'll never find her." Natsu stopped and sighed.

"So, four months for the towns and the surrounding areas. How much for the wildernesses?"

"I'm… I'm not sure to be honest. Some of them are just so vast. It's impossible to know. However, while we're searching, I'll start doing some detective work and see if I can come up with a plan for those."

Natsu nodded and sat back down. And that's how it was for the month. They'd been able to stick to Levy's plan pretty strictly. So far, they were on schedule, but Natsu knew. Levy was exhausted. Her pregnancy was starting to take its toll and everyone else was starting to run down. Natsu knew that something had to give and soon. Sighing in relief as the train came to a stop, Natsu stood and knew that he'd have to break his idea for a new plan that night.

"Listen guys," Natsu said after they'd had dinner at their current inn. "I've been thinking. Levy, thanks for trying, but you need to go at a slower pace, we all do."

"No Natsu, that's not true…"

"Levy, shut up," Gajeel said, more harshly then he meant. They had been arguing about this for days and Gajeel was just finally happy that someone else saw it. Levy turned away, obviously hurt. Gajeel would apologize later, once Natsu had spoken his mind.

"So, I think we should continue with the plan, but do it a bit differently. We'll split up. We'll take three different towns near each other and we'll take three days to do the whole town and the surrounding area."

"But Natsu, only you can pick up the boxes," Wendy said.

"True, but we know what's in those boxes. Every night, we'll communicate by lacrima and report. If any of you finds something that isn't a box, you tell me immediately." Everyone was quiet, but finally Levy nodded.

"It would work. We could all meet up in two and a half months back at Magnolia, since we're just going in a circle anyway."

"Who would the teams be?" Happy asked, eyeing Carla.

"Well, obviously each team has to be led by a dragon slayer." Carla huffed.

"True," Gajeel said. "Carla will travel with Wendy. That's a given. Levy's with me and Happy's with Natsu. That leaves Gray and Juvia to decide who they'd like to go with."

"I'll go with Wendy," Juvia volunteered. "I think she needs another human to help look after her." Wendy seemed happy for the company as did Carla. Natsu eyed Gray and Gray eyed him back. Natsu had gotten over his anger for the guy, but there was still some tension. Natsu could only hope that it would disappear once this whole mess was figured out.

"Go with them Gray," Natsu said.

"You serious man?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine on my own with Happy," Natsu smiled at Happy and he smiled back.

"Alright then," Levy said. "It's settled. I'll contact Erza with a status report and see if she can think of anyone who might come to help you out Natsu." Natsu nodded as everyone left for their own rooms. Natsu plopped onto his bed and wondered, as he drifted off what his dreams would bring him that night.

* * *

 **A Month and a Half After Awakening**

Lucy looked out among barren trees and sighed. The last of the leaves had fallen about a week ago and the only true enjoyment she'd actually had was gone. It was about time for her daily walk with Emma and Mikel. Perhaps saying that her only true enjoyment had been the beauty of the garden around her was rather harsh. She had actually grown to like and enjoy Emma's company. Mikel was another story. He was pretty bad tempered all the time, but for the most part, she could deal with him. She actually wondered if he liked Emma because she never heard him say anything mean or judgmental to her, like he loved to do to Lucy.

"Lucy!" Emma called happily from the door, "come along! Mikel is waiting for us down in the garden." Lucy sighed and walked over to her friend. It was the same routine every day and Lucy was so sick and tired of it. She should be grateful that she was treated so well and that Emma and Mikel were alright for the most part, but seriously, she needed something new. Even the conversations were the same. Lucy had learned early on that there were many topics she wasn't allowed to breech. So she kept quiet most of the time, listening to Emma prattle away about the house work and her life with her mother before she came here.

"Why?" Lucy suddenly found herself asking. Emma, who had been talking about her first day on the job, again, stopped and looked at Lucy in confusion. Lucy wasn't sure how long they'd been out this time. She'd been day dreaming that she was here with Natsu instead, enjoying the walk and just being together.

"Why did you come here? I mean, no offense Emma, but you're obviously afraid of the master. So why here?" Emma blushed and looked down, only to have Mikel step between them and give Lucy a nasty look.

"She doesn't have to answer you, brat!"

"No, Mikel, it's okay!" Emma sighed and she nodded. "She has a right to know. Well, my mother died when I was ten. I was about to go live with my grandmother, when the master appeared at my door. He said … he told me he was my father." Lucy's mouth dropped open and Mikel snorted.

"I know. I was elated to finally meet my father and so I just went with him. If I'd known, I would have tried to escape and gone to my grandmother instead."

"So, he isn't your father then?" Lucy finally asked.

"Oh, no, he is." Emma continued, "but what I didn't know at the time was that he knew I had a very powerful magic. Because we are blood related he used a spell that drains my magic and gives it to him. Thus, allowing him to have more than would normally be possible. If I'd known just what kind of father he was going to be, I wouldn't have come."

"So then, you're a powerful wizard?"

"Yes," Mikel said, "but she's never been able to train or hone her skills because she doesn't have control over her own magic."

"So what about you?" Lucy asked, turning her attention to the boy. "How do you fit into all this?"

"Me? Well, I had already been in his service when Emma showed up. I too am a wizard, but like Emma here, he tricked me. He told me and my brother, Rinel that he wanted apprentices. He just wanted slaves. He bound us with slaver magic and we must do whatever he commands."

"Rinel…" Lucy stopped, thinking she'd heard that name before. "Wait! You and your brother were the ones who attacked me and Natsu!"

He snorted again. "Took you long enough blondy. Yeah, on direct orders. Trust me, I would have been happy just to leave you alone. Although you gave us quite the show before we interrupted." Lucy blushed furiously and glared at the grinning Mikel. Suddenly, his grin disappeared and he snarled.

"Don't worry, that mate of yours got his revenge. Natsu basically broke him when he punched him through the wall. The master had no further use of him and exiled him to the wilderness. I'll probably never see him again."

Lucy cast her eyes down and sighed. This was all just so sad. But she'd gotten some very interesting information. The master seemed to be planning this for a long time, though it was odd. Based on some of the information she'd gleaned, it seemed that the master had put some of his plan into motion before Natsu and her had even met. Perhaps this was just coincidence though. He could have had the infrastructure in place and modified it to his wishes when Natsu and Lucy fell into his lap. Yeah, that made the most sense. After all, he considered both Natsu and herself enemies. So either they'd both fought him before, or he was just your basic bad guy who wanted to destroy them for some reason. But something told Lucy that no, he wanted personal revenge against the both of them. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she sighed. She'd figure out the rest later.

"Well, I guess that settles that," Lucy said, as they rounded a bend in the woods.

"Settles what?" Emma asked.

"We all hate the master for our own reasons, but none of us can touch him." They all nodded and Lucy stopped when she realized that they were in a part of the wood she hadn't been before.

"Where are we?"

"Somewhere near the border of the property," Emma commented, looking to Mikel. "I was just following him."

"Yeah, sorry. Sometimes I have to go on border control and I guess I just let my feet make the decisions." Lucy stayed silent, but kept throwing her eyes over to the right. The boarder was over there somewhere. Lucy knew there was a force field keeping them all there unless the master decided otherwise. Thus, it was stupid to think she could run away. Still, it would have been nice to get a look at it.

Suddenly, the very air shook with the master's resounding voice. "Emma, I am in need of tea. Prepare me a cup at once!" Emma, smiled apologetically at her companions and raced off. Lucy sighed and turned to follow her, when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She turned to see Mikel nod over his right shoulder in the direction of the barrier. Intrigued, Lucy followed. Within a few feet, she could see the shimmer that told her where the barrier stood.

"Listen, we only have a little time. The master checks on us regularly, but if he uses powerful magic, like what you just heard, he needs to take a breather."

"But that wasn't powerful magic."

"Not for someone whose gifting it is, no. But, he stole that ability, along with most of it. The only thing he's actually gifted in is concealment magic. Anyway, I brought you here so that you could see it. Don't touch it, because it will zap you into next week. I actually have some missing memories because of this sucker."

"Why show me?"

"To show you that you can't escape, at least not through this thing. If you'd had Virgo, it would be a piece of cake, but you already know that the master took care of your celestial spirits."

"Thanks for dashing my hope," Lucy snarled sarcastically.

"I'm trying to help princess. Now pay attention. You can't get out and no human can get in, but anything other," as if on cue, a bird flew in and landed on the branch, "can do both. The master has the barrier rigged for us, but not for animals, plant life, or signals. I learned that little tidbit awhile back when I realized that I could send my brother magical messages through the barrier. The master can hear it though, so long as he's not in the process of reinforcing it."

"How often does he have to do that?"

Mikel snorted. "Everyday. Remember, he's stealing his magic so he can't really create a longer lasting spell. He has to drain our magic for an hour, that starts at 11 then at 12 midnight, on the dot he reinforces the spell."

"So what do you want me to do?" Lucy finally asked.

"Get creative. Right now you're only hope is to be rescued."

Lucy nodded and followed him back to the house, but almost there, she sighed heavily enough to have him turning to her in question. "What?"

"Nothing, I just hate this. Always being rescued. I just feel so weak and helpless." Mikel nodded and led her into the house.

"I can see that, but listen Lucy, did you ever think that that might be why Natsu chose you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, dragon slayers get some of their power by taking on the traits of actual dragons. Dragons like to be in control and be seen as powerful heroes, although they tend to just scare the snot out of people. Maybe, Natsu liked playing the hero with you. You made him feel needed, but you never gave up. You kept going and proved that your weakness could also be your strength. You were stubborn in all of your damsel in distress moments, and that probably called to him more than anyone else had."

Lucy, who had honestly never thought of that before was shocked by it. "Yeah, I guess, but sometimes I still wonder why he didn't go for Lisanna when she returned. I mean, he did plenty of rescuing for her and she can be just as stubborn."

"I'll have to take your word for it. I was told to follow you, not her. But the little I saw tells me that the major difference was this, Lisanna wanted him because she could live with him, you wanted him because you couldn't live without him." Mikel left then and Lucy was left standing, shocked. Who would have thought Mikel could be so … philosophical? Still, the more she thought about it, the more she realized he was right. She couldn't speak for Lisanna, but she knew that a major part of her would die if she ever lost Natsu. The Lucy she was would never return. She'd never fully recover. Which meant one thing, she was going to contact Natsu somehow, someway, if it was the last thing she did.

Running into her room, Lucy found her calendar and counted. She'd been awake for a month and a half now. That left six and a half months for Natsu to find her and stop this whole stupid thing. Time to start planning. But first, Lucy had to train up her magic. She hadn't been able to use her magic since she awoke which made her feel rusty. She meditated for an hour and then trained for half an hour. She was tired by the end, but it felt good to use her magic again. Determined, she looked into the mirror and nodded. While she'd been meditating, she'd concocted a plan to contact Natsu through the bond. She wasn't even sure if it was possible, but she wouldn't know until she tried. She was going to try it tonight, no more procrastinating.

* * *

 **Two Months After Awakening**

" _Natsu,"_ a voice called to him in his sleep. Natsu stirred in his dream and sighed. It was Lucy, this was going to be one of the good dreams. Good, he hadn't been sleeping well for a few weeks.

 _"_ _Natsu,"_ the voice repeated.

 _"_ _Lucy, I'm here."_ Natsu expected Lucy to appear to him, but no pictures appeared. His brows furrowed in his sleep. Just a voice? That was weird. In fact, come to think of it, this didn't feel like a normal dream either.

 _"_ _Natsu! Oh, I can't believe this is working. Listen Natsu, I don't have much time. But know this, this is real. I have found a way to contact you through the bond."_

 _"_ _What! Lucy! Where are you! I'll come right now! I'll…"_

 _"_ _There's no time! Besides, I don't know where I am. Listen, I'll contact you again tomorrow night. I only have five minutes while the Master redoes his house spells at midnight each night. That is the only time I have for this."_

 _"_ _So tomorrow, I can get more answers?"_

 _"_ _Yes, where are you?"_

 _"_ _In some small no name town, looking for you. We all are. How long have you been trying to do this?"_

 _"_ _My first attempt was two weeks ago."_ There was sudden silence and Natsu was terrified that she had to go, but he realized she was listening. _"Listen Natsu, he's almost done. What I can tell you is that I'm not in a town or city. I'm surrounded by woods."_

 _"_ _Wilderness, got it."_ Natsu nodded in his sleep and silence once again fell between them. But he could feel her there trying to find a way to say something, so he decided to say it first.

 _"_ _I've missed you Lucy."_

 _"_ _Really?"_

 _"_ _More than you could ever imagine. I love you so much it is killing me. I want to destroy everything in my path just to relieve some of it."_

 _"_ _That is by far the most romantic thing you've ever said to me."_ Natsu smiled and he was about to respond, when he felt Lucy panic.

 _"_ _I have to go, or I'll be detected. I miss and love you Natsu!"_ And she was gone. He could feel it. Natsu bolted upright and clutched his chest, where the bond lay. It was buzzing, but it wasn't painful.

"Natsu?" Happy asked.

"Happy, what time is it?"

"I don't know. Sleep time?"

"Well, not anymore. I have to contact the others."

"Now?"

"Yes. We are catching the first train to Magnolia and reconnecting with the others there. We need to come up with a new strategy."

"Why?"

Natsu turned to Happy as he stood and started slipping on his backpack. "Because Lucy found a way to contact me in my sleep and she's given us a new starting point."


	10. Chapter 9

Hey Guys,

So... this chapter is once again about plot and character development/build-up. However, this will probably be the last one. After this, things will be racing towards the climax. I'm thinking 4 to 5 more chapters. Maybe an epilogue. Anyway, for those Gruvia fans out there, don't hate me! (You'll see why...) Also, one of you asked me why Lucy couldn't use her star dresses and I had actually already planned on addressing that in this chapter, so there you go.

As always, enjoy!

\- Singed

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

* * *

Natsu burst into the guildhall. He could smell Levy and Gajeel, but it would seem that Wendy, Carla, Juvia, and Gray weren't there yet. Everyone greeted him but it wasn't heartfelt. They were tiptoeing around him but if they'd known that he was the happiest he'd been in ages, they might have been more welcoming.

"Hey, fire breath, over here." Natsu saw Gajeel waving his hand and made his way to the table. Levy was pouring over a map while Gajeel forcefully placed a sandwich before her. She sighed, but picked it up and ate while she concentrated. Levy looked much better then she had when he'd seen her a month ago. Natsu took the opportunity to stare at Levy while Gajeel's back was turned. She still wasn't showing but she did have a certain look to her, almost a glow, and she definitely smelled pregnant. Geez, it was a miracle that normal people couldn't smell it. It was so strong. Natsu must have been making a face at the smell because Gajeel leaned over and growled.

"It might not smell good to you lava brain, but to me it is like the sweetest of perfumes." Natsu nodded and sat down. It wasn't that Levy smelled bad, but she did have a distinct smell of warning. It made sense. She was carrying another dragon slayer's child, so she was mated and definitely protected. He also noticed that Jet and Droy stayed far away from the table as well. Perhaps this smell was picked up by the others but they just didn't understand why they were acting the way they were.

"Do we know when the others will arrive?" Natsu asked as Mira placed a fire whisky in front of him.

"No, but I believe that they are on their way. Unfortunately, I think our party is about to be reduced by one," Levy said still pouring over her maps.

"What? Who?" Natsu asked. He'd gotten a hold of Levy and Gajeel a day ago when Lucy had warned him. Levy had said she'd contact Juvia for him.

"Juvia. I'll let her explain." She seemed to keep to her word because neither she nor Gajeel made a peep when he pressed for more information. Annoyance with them and with sitting idly while Lucy was trapped, sent Natsu out the back door. He just needed to watch the water for a while. It always calmed him.

He heard footsteps approaching, but being upwind so identity was impossible and the way everyone was avoiding him now, he thought they'd just pass him by. He was proven wrong as Lisanna's voice interrupted him. "Hey Natsu."

Natsu looked up in surprise, but his face quickly went blank and he turned back to the view. "Hey Lisanna."

There was an awkward pause before she cleared her throat. "May I join you?"

Natsu didn't say anything, but he did scoot over just a hair. Lisanna took the slight invitation and sat. He waited for her to start. After all, she must want something. "Listen Natsu," she finally started. "I owe you and Lucy an apology. I realize I'll have to give hers later but I want to make yours now."

Natsu finally turned to her and watched as she swallowed and began. "I know what I did was wrong and there is no excuse. In fact, I knew from the beginning what I was doing was wrong, but I didn't stop."

"So why did you do it?"

Lisanna sighed and brought her knees to her chest. "It's like I said from the beginning Natsu, I love you. Well, I thought I did. But after watching you and Lucy I realized that I loved the _idea_ of you. I'll still always consider you my childhood best friend, Natsu. But until a few months ago, I thought you were my prince charming too. However, any hope for that bond starting was severed by my disappearance."

"Yeah. But Lisanna, I can't even imagine loving anyone the way I love Lucy."

Lisanna smiled sweetly and nodded. "Yeah, I know that now. I've had time to do some soul searching Natsu and I've realized that even if I'd stayed, you would have found Lucy eventually. I was never the one you wanted or needed."

Natsu, no matter how angry he'd been, still felt pity for his childhood friend and realized in that moment that he'd forgiven her at some point. "I'm sorry Lisanna."

"Don't be Natsu. Like I said, to the girl I was all those years ago you were my dream, but dreams are difficult to live in and are even harder to love properly. I guess what I'm trying to say Natsu is that I hope you can forgive me one day."

"I think I already have Lisanna. I'm just not sure when I can trust you again."

Lisanna actually laughed and stood. "That's okay. Forgiveness is good enough." She walked back into the guild and Natsu followed shortly after.

* * *

The others finally arrived an hour later and Natsu noticed that Juvia did look, well ... heart broken. Something had apparently happened and whatever it was, it meant that Juvia was going to abandon them. Still, she stayed for the meeting as they discussed the new plan.

"So, Lucy found a way to use the bond. Impressive." Gajeel said, leaning back.

"But is that even possible?" Gray asked, mimicking Gajeel's move. It caused him to press his shoulder in Juvia's, but instead of causing her joy, she closed her eyes briefly in pain.

Gajeel thought for a moment, but Levy spoke. "No and yes. Most mates, no, but it would seem that in some serious situations it can be used for more than just a bonding. For most it is just a binding contract that connects their lives and loves, nothing more."

"Would it stop one of them from dying then if the other lived?" Wendy asked. Like Natsu, she knew nothing of dragon slayer matings and was trying to fill in the gaps.

Gajeel laughed and shook his head. "I wish! No, unfortunately, our mates are just as mortal as before, but it is a life bond." The others didn't seem to understand it, but Natsu did. He understood that it meant that while they lived, they could not separate from one another. Not literally of course, but long bouts of separation or cheating would have cataclysmic ramifications. They would be a permanent fixture in each other's lives, destined to walk with each other through everything. Thinking about all this made Natsu want Lucy there so bad that he almost broke the table.

Levy's voice shook him from his thoughts. "So, I've been pouring over the maps and I have decided the best course of action. We have more time than I'd thought we would, but this still won't be easy. Natsu, if Lucy contacts you again, you must get more information if you can."

Natsu nodded. It was decided that they would split again for the next two months and search smaller pockets of wilderness. If they still hadn't found anything, they'd go to the great wilderness together and search there. They all agreed and Natsu stood to leave. Lucy hadn't reached him last night while he was on the train. But he'd been to sick to sleep on the train, so that probably caused a disturbance.

He headed straight for Lucy's. While both of them had been in hibernation, Master Makarov had made sure that the guild paid Lucy's rent. When he'd awoken, Natsu had asked the master to continue to do so. The master had agreed but Natsu had to pay him back as soon as he could take paying jobs again. Natsu agreed to these terms but inwardly he cringed. He didn't even want to think about how many missions he'd have to go on to pay the old man back. It was especially stupid since Natsu was sure that he could convince Lucy just to move into his place since it was rent free and bigger.

"Natsu," Juvia called out to him a few blocks later. He calmly turned and watched as she approached. He'd heard her behind him and had identified her by smell, but had waited for her to approach him.

"Natsu, I need to ask you. Do you think it possible for me to travel with your group instead?" This surprised Natsu. He'd been planning on chewing Juvia out for abandoning Lucy. But she didn't want to leave the mission, just switch groups.

"Why?"

Juvia closed her eyes in pain again and sighed. "I love Gray."

"Yeah, everyone knows Juvia."

"Yes, including Gray, but I have come to the realization that Gray will never return my affections." This gave Natsu pause. Most other women would have come to that realization years ago. So why was Juvia, the most persistent love-sick person anyone had ever heard of, coming to her senses now?

"Do you mind telling me what happened?"

"It started at the reception. When he kissed Lucy, out of revenge or whatever, something finally began to click. My heart was so broken, Natsu. I was so happy for you and Lucy and I'd thought that I could finally put to rest that stupid fear of Lucy being my love rival. After all, I'd known for some time that it wasn't true on her end." Natsu took a deep breath as his previous hatred for Gray reared up while he remembered. He gritted his teeth and kept telling himself that Gray was a friend and not a rival to be destroyed. Once he'd calmed down again, he nodded to Juvia to continue. As she cleared her throat to speak, Natsu cursed Gray with a thousand painful deaths for doing something so utterly stupid and nearsighted that they were still feeling it's effects.

"Anyway, that kiss made me start thinking. I realized that Gray had probably kissed and dated a lot of women. I've dated too, at least before I met him, but it never lasted long and I never felt anything for them like I feel for Gray. So, I started asking around and I found out that he's dated a lot, even while I was right there. He requested every girl to keep their mouths shut because he wanted to hide these relationships from me. I understand why, but still, to never have suspected..." She closed her eyes again and took a shuttering breath.

"Then, while we were on the road, I would see how other couples interacted with each other for the first time in true study. I saw how Gajeel treated Levy and how you were doing anything and everything to get Lucy back and I just realized one morning that Gray would never do that. At least not for me. I mean, there were so many hints and clues that he might have started to feel the same, but that kiss made me realize. He was only doing those things to keep me around, but he never really wanted me."

"So, you are continuing but it must be with me."

"You or Gajeel and Levy. I must start to separate myself from Gray. Otherwise," she sighed and covered her face with her hands. "Otherwise, I'll never be able to move on."

Natsu thought about it and nodded. "You can join either one. I'll say you should ask Levy and Gajeel first because soon Levy won't be able to use her powers correctly. Pregnancy and all." She nodded and bowed in thanks. Then she turned without a word and walked off, very much dejected. Using her powers, she disappeared in the mist. Natsu shook his head and growled. Gray was an idiot. Natsu had seen how he felt about her, especially recently. But to hide it so cleverly so that Juvia was none the wiser was cruel and pointless.

Deciding to focus on his own problems for the rest of the night, Natsu moved on. When Natsu arrived at the apartment he took a deep breath. Her scent still permeated the room. It wasn't so pungent as before, but yes, it was still there. He changed for bed and curled up with her pillow. He glanced at the clock and saw that he still had an hour before Lucy could try again. Knowing that she'd be there, he willed himself to sleep and thankfully, he did.

* * *

 _"_ _Natsu,"_ her voice called out as before _._

 _"_ _Here!"_ He replied immediately.

 _"_ _Where were you last night? I…"_ she was searching for words. How could she describe how utterly frustrated she was to have their time come and go and he not be there. It was the first time she felt truly disappointed by him.

 _"_ _I know Luce,"_ he sighed and tried to push his own emotions through the bond. _"I tried, but I was on a train, back to Magnolia."_

 _"_ _Oh, motion sickness."_

 _"_ _Yeah."_

 _"_ _Why are you in Magnolia?"_

 _"_ _Meeting back with the group to discuss how to find you. Now that we know not to search the towns, we have to re-strategize."_

 _"_ _Makes sense. How is everyone?"_

 _"_ _Juvia's finally realized that Gray's an idiot, so she's leaving him. But he's actually starting to love her, so bad timing."_

 _"_ _I'd say. Poor Juvia."_

 _"_ _Not poor Gray?"_

 _"_ _No, he deserves it."_ Natsu smiled in spite of himself and nodded.

 _"_ _Anything else?"_ Lucy asked.

 _"_ _Levy's pregnant."_

 _"_ _She is! Oh, tell me everything! Is it a boy or a girl? When is she due?"_

 _"_ _Luce…"_

 _"_ _Are we going to be godparents? Do you think it'll look more like Gajeel or Levy? Because if you ask me…"_

 _"_ _Luce! Later, we need some information."_

There was a brief pause and then _, "Right. We only have three minutes left."_

 _"_ _Okay, is there anything you can tell me? Fiore is a big place."_

 _"_ _Well, it is definitely wooded, so the desert and that wasteland are out."_

 _"_ _Right, you mentioned that last time."_

 _"_ _Also, there are mountains, and I think that we are actually on one and not in a valley. I deduced this from our slightly colder climate and the fact that the ground slops steadily."_

 _"_ _Right, anything else?"_ Lucy was quiet for a moment and then she said slowly.

 _"_ _The forest is mostly deciduous. As in the trees lose their leaves in the fall."_

 _"_ _Right, knew that."_

 _"_ _You did?"_

Natsu snorted. _"Yeah, remember that time you tried to increase my vocabulary? Well, I did actually learn a lot. I just never use them."_

 _"_ _Uh, good to know. Anyway, I think we are also situated on the south side of whatever mountain we're on. I'm basing this on the sunlight we get everyday though, so I might be off."_

 _"_ _Great, thanks Luce."_

 _"_ _Hey, I want to be rescued as soon as possible."_ Natsu growled his consent as Lucy continued. _"If I could do it myself, I would. But the master has my keys and whatever spell he placed on me suppresses my ability to use my star dresses. I'm actually not sure why I can even use the bond."_

 _"_ _It's because the magic of the ceremony turned the magical bond into something physical. Since you use keys anyway, what's one more object to channel magic?"_ Natsu had answered her automatically while he thought about what he'd do to this master when he got his hands on him. Shocked silence reigned for a moment.

 _"_ _Natsu, how do you know that?"_

 _"_ _What? Oh, I read that book you had on dragon slayer matings. It talked about the bond being both magical and physical and I just thought that your keys were probably similar."_ Lucy was learning a lot about her mate tonight and she liked what she heard. Maybe there was hope for Natsu after all.

 _"_ _I love you, Natsu,"_ Lucy squealed in pure joy and affection.

 _"_ _I love you too, Luce,"_ Natsu replied, wishing she was actually there with him.

 _"_ _I know. Oh one last thing, there is a magical barrier around the mansion. It will make things very difficult for you when you get here."_

 _"_ _Yeah, I'd guess so."_

 _"_ _I have to go Natsu, give everyone my love."_ She was gone. Natsu awoke and curled up around her pillow even tighter. He needed to find her. Six months. For six months they had been separated and he could feel it, a small bit of insanity creeping in. He needed to keep it from everyone, including Lucy. He guessed that it meant he'd have to make sure that Juvia went with Levy and Gajeel. More importantly, he needed to stall it. Though oddly enough, he could sense that these dream meetings with Lucy might help.

* * *

"Right, well with Lucy's new information, I have constructed the best possible places to search," Levy explained, passing out the marching orders. Erza leaned against a pillar nearby, looking annoyed. She felt rather left out. She'd been asked to go on a top secret mission for the master just as Natsu and the rest were starting their search for Lucy. She'd understood the importance then and she felt the importance now, but it still grated on her a bit. She'd finally gotten back a few days ago and now they were going back out. Well, she was not being left behind again.

"Now, we have some group changes to discuss," Levy announced, as nonchalantly as she could. It fooled everyone except Natsu and Gajeel, who could hear the quiver in her voice.

"Group changes?" Gray asked, annoyed.

"Yes, I am about to lose perfect control over my magic and we'll need another fighter on our team. Erza is demanding to join us this time and with Natsu requesting that his team stay the same, our new teams will be Natsu and Happy; Gray, Erza, Wendy, and Carla; and Gajeel, Juvia, and myself."

Gray turned his gaze to Juvia who nodded and went to stand with her new team mates. "Hold on," Gray said, stepping to block her path. "Did you even ask us about this?"

"She didn't have to Gray," Juvia said, stepping out from behind him and standing next to Gajeel. "I requested the change. After all, with Levy about to enter her second trimester, they need someone else with magical ability. I've worked with Gajeel in the past and Erza's been on your team from the beginning. It made the most sense."

Gray just stared at her, stunned. Natsu wondered what it felt like to be so shocked at a logical rejection. Gray was not stupid. Under no normal circumstance would Juvia volunteer to be away from him. With this confession, she was starting to build a wall. One Gray had never suspected and now didn't want.

"But is this what you want?" he finally ventured.

Sensing the tense atmosphere between the two, everyone began to leave for last minute preparations. Natsu turned and pretended to be preoccupied with something, but he was listening.

"It is," she said with feeling. She began to turn away, but Gray stopped her.

"But, I mean, did I do something Juvia?"

"No, you didn't do anything, ever. I guess you could say, I Juvia, finally came to the realization that I wasn't needed or wanted." She marched away and Natsu turned back around to see Gray continuing to stare at her.

"I don't understand," Gray finally said to Natsu.

"She just told you man. You never did anything to keep her around. Even someone like Juvia has her limits. She's trying to move on."

"But…," Gray's face crunched in utter confusion and he sighed, "I just thought I had time to work it all out. To figure out if these feelings I have were the real deal or if I was just imagining it."

"That's the problem isn't it," Natsu said, picking up his bag and handing Gray his.

"What?"

"We all think we'll have more time and more chances. Sometimes, we just don't."


	11. Chapter 10

Hey Guys,

Okay, I've read your reviews. Don't worry, I won't leave Gray and Juvia there. You will get some kind of closure, but you'll have to wait a bit. Maybe in the next chapter if you ask nicely. ;) Anyway, I'm starting to build to the climax now and things are going to get crazy. More of the master's plan will be revealed in this chapter and our two main characters are going to be in more of a pickle than they'd like.

As always, hope you enjoy and feel free to leave a comment or review.

\- Singed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

* * *

 **Three Months Since Awakening**

The master frowned as he sat back. He watched the silent figure jump out the window as he touched the side of his face. His hand came back with a smudge of blood. It had been a warning. _They_ had somehow figured out that he was planning to kill Natsu and Lucy instead of enslaving them. Fine, he'd prepared for this. He'd already memorized the spell that would do what he wanted, but that didn't mean that _they'd_ get them alive either.

Shaking his head, he turned his thoughts to a more pressing matter. The last month or so he'd felt a strange surge in the magical energy pulsing through his mansion around the time he was renewing the house spells. It wasn't Emma or Mikel, they didn't have any magic themselves since he took it all. No, it had to be his littler prisoner. He blamed that surge, and thus Lucy, for distracting him enough to allow his barrier to be more lax as of late. He assumed that there was no other way even one of _their_ agents could have gotten in. Of course, being the narcissist he was he never once suspected that someone could just be stronger.

"Bray!" He called. Instantly, his secret servant Bray came melting out of the shadows. Bray had been the other servant he'd sent to watch the drama that was Natsu and Lucy's pre-ceremony selves. Mikel knew about her, which meant that Emma probably did too, but he still never spoke of her. She wasn't even real. She was nothing more than a ghost that he'd enslaved.

"Yes master?"

"Explain. I've had you watch the captive since she's awoken. What has she been doing at midnight?"

Bray was silent for a moment before saying. "To anyone watching, she appears asleep sir. However, I've felt her use her magic during this time. She also seems happier. I've looked into it and the best I can tell it seems that she is creating a dream world for herself."

"She's a celestial wizard, can she do that?"

Bray shrugged and replied. "You're skills are in hiding and illusions only. Yet, you produce many different types of magic when it suits you. I will say that it is in the realm of possibilities." The master turned around and looked out his window. What Bray was saying was true. Lucy could … but no, something else was going on here.

"Perhaps. However, I want you to travel to the secret library and find me that book again on dragon slayers and their mates. I need to look something up."

"As you wish sir, but it will be harder than before. The guardians were alerted to the theft the last time. I will need to sneak past even better security."

"Very well, but I give you two months only. It took you a month last time, so even with these added measures it shouldn't take you any more time."

"Yes master," she said disappearing as the master sat sighing. Seven months had gone by. If _they_ hadn't discovered his treachery then it really wouldn't have mattered when the Salamander found her. Now was a different story. His original plan _might_ have gotten him killed by his silent patrons. If he went against them again, it was a guarantee.

He stood to pace and the more he thought, the more he disliked his altered time line. He did some quick calculations and sighed. He just needed Natsu to be away for two more months. He wasn't stupid. He knew that Natsu Dragneel would find his precious mate at some point and now he actually needed him to find her before the year mark.

Yes, Natsu Dragneel had to find her before the year mark, but after he'd started to go down the path of insanity. Then, he could kill Lucy and entrap her soul in her dead body. It would take a lot of magic to reanimate the body and keep it preserved, but according to the spell this entrapment allowed him access to her magic as well. He could just use Lucy's own magic to cast the spell. As long as Natsu was going insane by that time he would still have to mate her. The beautiful thing about it was that the act would send him over the edge.

He smiled and sat. Yes, there was no doubt. Knowing that she was actually dead and entrapped to be the master's puppet would be the final nail in Dragneel's coffin. Natsu would go insane at his inability to save her, kill himself, and then he could use the same spell on Natsu. Both would be dead just as he wanted, but they'd also be his eternal puppets to be used by his benefactors. It was tricky, but doable. He just needed Natsu to take at least two more months, because if his calculations were correct, Natsu would be starting his path down insanity soon. But first, to figure out what little miss Lucy was up to.

* * *

"Lucy, what would you like for lunch today?"

Lucy looked up to see Emma standing in her doorway and smiled. "Whatever you're serving Emma, I'm not being picky today."

"Oh… okay." Emma left with much confusion and Lucy couldn't blame her. Lucy silently yelled at herself.

"Stupid, you're too happy. Remember, you're trapped." Lucy tried to lose her smile, but it was difficult. It had been a month since Lucy and Natsu had begun talking and it was such a relief. They were even starting to be able to send projections of themselves, not just voices. These projections were still fuzzy, but better than nothing. She'd seen his face for the first time in months last night and it had been glorious. She'd ran up and took his face in her hands. He'd done the same, gliding his thumbs across her cheeks. They'd been able to look into each other's eyes as they spoke. He'd had good news. They'd eliminated the only wilderness in the western part of the country with mountains, so now the groups were headed north.

"I don't know why Lucy, but this just feels right. I know you're there somewhere."

Lucy had just smiled and leaned into one of his hands. As she faded Natsu leaned down and kissed her gently. She'd awoken with a smile on her face and sighed.

"Lunch is ready out on the terrace. It's pretty warm today for February, so I imagine that you'd like to go outside." Lucy nodded and followed Emma out. Mikel was already there, eating a sandwich and he ignored Emma's scolding that it was rude to eat before everyone was there.

"Any news of the outside world?" Lucy asked once the basic greetings were done for the day.

Mikel had been out on a shopping trip for a few days, and he had made a point of bringing Emma and Lucy back some chocolates. Although, Lucy noticed that he'd also given Emma a pretty necklace with earrings to match. Yeah, he so liked her. Mikel shrugged and swallowed the last of his sandwich. "Not really. The town is still as small as ever and everyone is usually too terrified to speak with me."

"Why would they be too terrified to speak to you?"

"Because the master and his dealings are known to them. Since they know who I am, they give me a wide berth. It's whatever though. It's not like I'm looking to be friends with any of them."

"So what's the name of this town?" Lucy asked innocently enough but Mikel and Emma both shot her knowing looks.

"Please Lucy, we weren't born yesterday." Emma said. "That is a piece of information that would definitely get us into trouble with the master."

Mikel scoffed as he said, "Even though you couldn't possibly do anything with it." Lucy nodded, but little did they know that she could do a lot with that information.

"Yeah, I'm just so bored here!" Lucy sighed and sagged down into her chair. Mikel snorted but Emma looked down, hurt.

"I'm sorry Lucy. I should spend more time with you."

Lucy, feeling bad about hurting the other girl's feelings, waved it off. "No! Emma, trust me. I consider you a friend too, but well … I'm used to going on adventures and I've been stuck here for months."

"I know, but we can't let you go."

"I know."

"Well, this was an uplifting lunch. Perhaps we could do it again sometime." Mikel stood and walked out. Lucy tried to start a happier conversation with Emma, but she also found an excuse to leave a short time after and Lucy once again found herself alone. It was the loneliness that killed her the most.

"If only he'd allow me Plue, then I'd have someone." Lucy fell onto her bed and picked up her journal. It was actually her fifth one. She had taken this time to write another novel. After all she had more than enough time. She flipped to where she'd left off yesterday and edited what she'd written before setting in to write a new chapter. However, she kept finding her mind wandering. Finally, she realized why. There was a noise coming from her terrace.

Standing, Lucy walked out and found that a leaf was stuck in-between the two doors. Odd. There wasn't even any wind. How could a leaf even get there like that? Opening the door, the leaf fell to the ground. Intrigued, but only because of her own boredom, Lucy picked it up. It was dead, but if must have been a casualty of this year because it had just enough spring in it left to keep it from crumbling. Seeing nothing of interest Lucy went to drop it when she saw something under her thumb. Moving it ever so slightly, Lucy saw something etched in the leaf. With more care than she'd ever put into something like this, was a word. Amaryllis.

Why would someone put the word on a leaf. It was also a weird word. It had to be a name. It sure didn't sound like the name of a person though, more the name of a city or… town. That was it! The town's name was Amaryllis! Mikel or Emma must have decided to help her out after all. Lucy was betting on Mikel. He wasn't the nicest person, but he was quicker than Emma. He must have figured that she could do something with the information after all. She quickly put a stop to a smile that was slowly spreading across her face. She had to act like nothing had happened. She couldn't get her friends in trouble. Crumbling the leaf and watching the pieces fall, Lucy went back to work, as if nothing worthwhile had happened.

* * *

 _Lucy smiled as Natsu appeared to her. Lucy raced over and hugged Natsu. Her body stopped like his was actually there, and he returned the hug. They couldn't really feel each other but they knew the other was there._

 _Still locked in each other's arms, they started their news. "How's the progress, Natsu?"_

 _"_ _It's going. We started searching the great forest today. Nothing of course, or else I'd be hugging you for real tonight."_

 _Lucy smiled and lifted her face towards his. "I think we'd be doing more than hugging." A feral grin stretched across Natsu's face and he leaned down to kiss her. Lucy wished that she could actually feel it in this form._

 _"_ _Yeah," Natsu said softly after breaking the kiss. "But for now, I'm happy just to have you here."_

 _"_ _Me too."_

 _Natsu just held her for a moment, before asking, like she knew he would, "Anything new on your end?"_

 _"_ _Amaryllis," Lucy said, grinning._

 _"_ _What?" Lucy giggled in return and sighed._

 _"_ _I got the name of the town the manor is near. Amaryllis."_

 _Natsu grabbed Lucy's arms and pushed her out so he could look into her face. "Are you sure?"_

 _"_ _I can't be 100% sure, no. But at least have Levy check her maps." Natsu bear hugged her in his excitement and twirled her around before setting her down._

 _"_ _This is perfect Lucy! I'll tell the other's tomorrow. They'll be so excited and…" Suddenly there was a blinding light and Lucy screamed in agony._

 _"_ _Lucy!" A faceless man stood before Natsu, holding Lucy's unconscious form in his outstretched hands._

 _"_ _Well, I knew something was going on, but this. I must say, I am most impressed. Tell me dragon slayer, was it you who figured out a form of communication, or your little mate?"_

 _"_ _If you know so much, then you tell me."_

 _"_ _Her then. You have ridiculous luck, but she's the brains. I'm just glad that I was able to be patient. How happy I was that you two went over your five minute limit by a few seconds."_

 _"_ _No way! Lucy has the spell timed. There was no way!"_

 _"_ _Except Lucy assumed that I always started at midnight on the dot. I simply started two minutes early. It was a bit of a pain and a bit harder than expected, but I got my desire."_

 _"_ _What do you want?!"_

 _"_ _Your death, and the death of your pretty little mate."_

 _"_ _Wrong! If you simply wanted us dead, then you would have killed us by now. What is your real plan?" The faceless man just stared at Natsu for a moment and laughed._

 _"_ _They really don't give you enough credit dragon slayer. True, I would have. If you must know, I mean to enslave you to my will."_

 _"_ _How?"_

 _"_ _You'll see in time. Mustn't give away all my secrets. Now, just so you're aware, I was the one to plant the leaf. I've been listening in on all of her recent conversations and I just had to see what she'd do if she thought she had the name. No doubt, she already gave it to you." Natsu growled and the man laughed again._

 _"_ _Also, these little conversations are at an end." The dream world began to fade and Natsu jumped forward to punch the guy and hold Lucy in his arms once again. They disappeared just before he reached them._

 _"_ _Get to searching Natsu the Salamander. Plenty more ground to cover. Besides, with the punishment your mate will receive at my hand, if you wait too long you may find you have hardly a mate left."_

Natsu bolted out of his sleep, completely engulfed in flames and tore out of his burning tent. They had all agreed to search the great forest together since Levy had decided that Lucy must be in here somewhere. People were all scrambling out of their tents to see what was wrong. Everyone either took a step back in fear or stopped dead as they gazed upon him.

"What happened man?" Gray finally asked.

"We have to hurry. This master discovered about our communications." Levy's face paled and Gajeel grunted. Everyone else stayed silent as Natsu looked up at the moon. Seeing that it was near full, he trudged into the forest in the direction of his next search. He grabbed his pack and didn't look back as his still flaming feet left a path of red footprints.


	12. Chapter 11

Hey Guys,

So some questions will be answered in this chapter, but fair warning, it gets a little dark. Lets just say sanity has been thrown out by a few characters. Anyway, the story is starting to wrap up in this one. I'd say we have 3 or so more chapters after this.

As always, feel free to comment or review. Hope you enjoy.

\- Singed

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

* * *

 **Four and a Half Months Since Awakening**

Lucy slowly came back from the world of sleep. Her head felt foggy and her muscles barely seemed to listen to her commands. She tried to make a sound, but that didn't really work either. Finally, she got her fingers to move just enough to grab at the bed sheets.

"Lucy! Oh thank God you're awake!" Lucy turned to Emma's voice and looked at her. She tried to smile but it was painful. Everything was painful. Thinking was painful.

Lucy worked her mouth and her vocal cords gently before asking. "How long this time?" she croaked. Emma's face fell and she sighed.

"You've been asleep," she paused, counting silently, "for about a week now." Lucy sighed and closed her eyes. Ever since the master had discovered her communication with Natsu, he'd put her through this incredibly painful cycle of magical beatings followed by a powerful sleep spell. Unfortunately for her, the master did something to the sleep spell that made her recovery while asleep almost impossible. Every bruise and cut felt like it had just happened an hour ago. The worst part was she'd found out from Emma during one of her awake times that the master had increased his glimmer spell around the manor. Now, it was near impossible for someone to see the house unless they already knew where it was.

"So, that would mean that I've been away from Natsu for about eight and a half months now."

"Yes." Lucy looked over at Emma as tears filled the maid's eyes. "Oh Lucy, how can I help you? What can I do?"

"Not let Mikel kill me," she tried to make it a joke but Emma burst into tears. The master, in true cowardice, forced Mikel to do the beatings while he lounged back and laughed. Mikel wept through it every time, as rage and hatred grew in his eyes towards the man.

"Oh Lucy! I don't know what to do! I love Mikel," Lucy smiled at how easily Emma said it now. She was sure a few weeks ago Emma hadn't even known it herself. "And you're the only real friend I've ever had. Now, both of you are in so much pain. You're beat constantly and Mikel has literally stopped eating and sleeping. He only does when the master forces him. I'm losing you both and I can't stop it!"

Emma sagged around herself and cried. Lucy reached out and grabbed her hand. "Shhh, Emma, this isn't your fault."

"I know, but…"

"Besides, if it's any conciliation, Mikel loves you too."

"What?" This did make Emma stop crying for a moment. "How do you know?"

"I just do, trust me. And if he loves you as much as I think he does, if you asked him to live for you he'd do it." Emma just stared at Lucy for a moment and was about to say something, when the door was thrown open and the master along with Mikel walked in. Lucy tried not to react to her fear but she still quaked where she laid anyway.

"Master no!" Emma called. "She hasn't been fed yet and she still needs her bath."

"Relax Emma," the master's voice was far too sweet. "We are not here to beat Lucy, at least not yet. We are just checking on the progress. As soon as she is fed though, and bathed, please inform me." There was power behind the request and Lucy knew it had just been made an order. Mikel sat in the corner of the room, not saying a word while he watched. He did leave however when Emma started leading Lucy to the bathroom. Emma, to her credit took her sweet time in doing everything the master demanded. She made sure that Lucy was fed a five course meal and then treated with a three part bath. It started with a tempered washing, followed by a hot spring relaxant, finishing with a cooling rinse. If Lucy didn't hurt so much, she'd be in heaven.

It was dark by the time Lucy was presented to the master. She was taken to the usual room. Her blood stains from the last few beatings still there. Mikel, his eyes dead, stood across the way just staring at the ground. The master was in his usual seat reading what appeared to be a very large, very old book. He sighed as she entered and closed the book with a snap. "You must be reaching your limit soon, no doubt."

Lucy didn't answer.

"Well, that's fine. There will be very little beating tonight." Lucy looked up at him and she heard Emma voice a startled gasp at the declaration as well.

"There won't?" Lucy finally ventured.

"No, there won't. You see while you were asleep, my third servant Bray returned with a most interesting book. I had to return it to quickly last time, but I read some very interesting things my dear. One of them intrigues me greatly." He sat back in a relaxed pose, but a tension in his shoulders betrayed him. He was excited about something.

"Now Lucy, according to all my research it would appear that anyone can become a dragon slayer's mate. However, much like those legends of the dragons kidnapping maidens, dragon slayers prefer one who has not been touched. Am I to assume that such a pure description describes you?"

Lucy's blush was proof enough and the master's laughter became tinged with insanity. "Good, good, Natsu must be pleased. Like I said, it's not necessary for the mate of a dragon slayer to be a virgin. What is required is that you stay sexual faithful to your mate once the bond is started and that no former lover is mentioned or sought after the bond has formed. Dragon slayers are rather protective beings. But I digress." He stood and took a step to the window.

"What you need to understand Lucy is that I'm going to make sure of your infidelity tonight. Your dragon slayer will feel your violation through the bond and when he does, he'll go completely insane. When he arrives here in three days, you won't even recognize him."

Lucy had paled during the entire speech. Emma was crying in the corner again and Mikel had turned in horror to the master.

"You wouldn't," Lucy whispered.

The master stilled and his voice grew dangerous. "I wouldn't have to if you'd just been a good captive and not contacted your mate. He would have found you eventually anyway. I need him insane you see. But seeing as he'll be here at any moment I must speed up the process. This book," he roared holding up the tome, "has a few accounts of perfectly rational dragon slayers going insane due to infidelity. It is simply icing on the cake that Natsu hasn't had you for himself yet."

Lucy listened and realized that he'd probably just given away more of his plan than he meant to, but the only part that really stood out to Lucy was, "Natsu's almost here?"

"Yes, he and that band of followers. They have done quite the job of narrowing down the playing field. And if they remain on their course, they will be here shortly. But enough of this talk. Mikel, get on with it." Emma's sobs increased but Mikel didn't move.

"No," he finally said.

A dangerous silence was heard and the master slowly straightened. "Excuse me?"

"I said no. I will no longer serve you."

"You don't have much say in the matter. Now, rape her!" He put all of his power behind that one command and Mikel fought it the whole way. Lucy took a few running steps backwards and Mikel clumsily ran at her. Unfortunately, Lucy fell, still weak. She scrambled. She couldn't allow this to happen! She wanted Natsu to be her one and only. As she scrambled backwards, she watched a tortured and fighting Mikel take step by agonizing step towards her. He was in so much pain and yet he fought. This almost gave Lucy hope, because she was actually out pacing him. That is, until the master snapped his fingers and hands reached up from the floor locking her into position.

"No!" She screamed.

The master's laughter echoed and she cringed, closing her eyes as Mikel reached her. Suddenly, she felt someone land on top of her and heard the sound of cloth ripping. Opening her eyes, Lucy saw Emma over top of her. Mikel, who had been reaching for Lucy's blouse, had grabbed Emma's instead. Her shirt was in ruins now. She was almost completely exposed but Emma didn't quell in fear or shame. She simply stared down Mikel who looked utterly horrified.

"You're better than this," she said softly. Mikel was dismayed for a moment, before his resolve won out and he stood. He handed Emma his jacket as he did so and turned towards the master. The master, although faceless, still showed fear as Mikel lifted his hands and shot out a beam of pure magical energy. The master fell backwards, out cold.

Mikel just watched him as Lucy and Emma stood. "What was that?" Lucy finally asked.

"Me freeing myself. His spell has finally broken. I am free. Unfortunately, I am far too weak to free you both. But with the lack of my power he will not have enough magical energy to keep Natsu and your friends out indefinitely." As he spoke he led them from the room and down the hall to the nearest door.

"I am going to find your friends and help them out Lucy. I must be past the barrier before he awakens. Otherwise, I'm as good as dead."

"But how will you get out of the barrier?" Lucy asked, hoping he could take her with him.

"I have just enough power left to get myself through. I think. Plus, my magic has been used to keep it going for long enough it should recognize me and allow me through. That means Emma could go too right now, but I doubt she'll leave you Lucy."

"No, I'll stay," Emma said, as they reached the barrier. "I mean, you are planning on coming back, right?" Mikel stopped and turned to her. He grabbed her face in one swift motion and kissed her soundly.

"That is my promise," he whispered. He then reached forward and pulled Lucy's ribbon from her hair. He tucked it into his pocket and then turned towards the barrier.

"One last thing Emma. While you can use your powers, get Lucy to sleep again. He's a coward, but he might actually go through with his plan himself if he finds her awake." With that Mikel stepped through and was gone. Emma, knowing his advice was good, led Lucy back to her room and before anything could be said or done, put Lucy under.

* * *

Natsu took a deep breath and sighed. He had to find her! He had to find her! HE HAD TO FIND HER!

It was a mantra he'd been saying to himself for the last week or so. He was really starting to lose it. The others had been following him for some time now. The last couple of days, at least he was pretty sure that was how long it'd been. They were following him because … well he wasn't sure why. He remembered there was a reason, but he'd forgotten that reason.

Wait! That's right, they were friends of Lucy's too! He wouldn't need to kill them after all. Suddenly, the desire to kill something shot through him so fast, he relieved it by punching the closest tree. It toppled over. There was something satisfying about the noise it made as it smashed the ground.

The sound of footsteps behind him alerted him to Gajeel and Wendy. Being able to recall their names helped to ground him and reality came back for a moment. He sighed and turned to them. No one, including Happy, approached him now unless they wanted something. They were all growing very concerned for his wellbeing and they should be. He was losing it.

"Natsu," Wendy started, "perhaps we should try again."

Natsu sighed and glared at the other two dragon slayers. Wendy had tried to cure his insanity with a spell. It hadn't helped, not at all.

"No Wendy, I think … I think the only cure I'll have is to find Lucy."

Gajeel scoffed, and turned his gaze to Natsu. "What concerns me lava brain, is that your progressing way to fast. I just don't understand."

"I hate to admit it," Levy said, trudging up the hill. She was showing now. Not by much, being a little over four months, but on her petite frame the small baby bump was clearly seen. Gajeel couldn't be happier but he was also much more protective than he had been, even right after the mating. "But I think that I do understand."

"What do you mean Levy?" Wendy asked, seeing that Natsu wouldn't. He was too busy watching a butterfly flutter by, his gaze unfocused as he lit up his hands. Natsu was destructive but he'd never been one to kill something innocent. Wendy blew the butterfly gently but quickly away from his reach and for a moment he looked grateful before he realized they were there and he turned his attention to Levy.

"Natsu, I think you and Lucy have been mated for longer than eight and a half months."

That did catch his attention and he finally seemed there with them. "What? How?"

"Well," she lowered herself, with Gajeel's help onto a rock. "It is true that a public declaration of mutual love and a mate's mark is needed to get the bond started, but after some extensive research I've found that there is such a thing called a four layered bond. What Gajeel and I have is a three layered bond mating. We made our public declaration, created the mark, and we consummated shortly afterwards. The public declaration and the mark is like the hilt of a sword, creating a base and handle for the bond, and the physical connect is the sharpened outside, but all swords have an inner core that makes it even stronger."

"Could you get to the point Levy?" Natsu saw Gajeel's glare and quickly added. "Please."

"Right, sorry. Anyway, when a dragon slayer and his mate have been in life altering situations it can actually form a bond before a public declaration or mate mark."

"But we've been through so many! Which one?"

"Who's to say? But, the truth is that I think you've been bonded to Lucy for well, years. However, it didn't become a desperate need to complete the bond until after you turned 21 and after your public declaration."

"How do you know all this Levy?" Wendy asked.

"I requested a special book from the great library. It was lost for a time actually, but they found it and made several copies just in case it happened again. I've been reading it extensively since it was delivered a little while ago."

"Wait, why don't you and I have the four layered bond? We've been in just as many life altering situations." Levy looked at Gajeel and then smiled sheepishly.

"Well, technically all mates will eventually have a four layered bond. A sword must have a core, but most mates don't have years of time to create it before the declaration is made. So, it tends to fill in after the fact. However, when the core is formed before the declaration, it allows the couple to have extra use of the bond. It says that only those with the four layered bond can manipulate the bond to their will. I've been trying for a while now, but nothing's happened."

"Before or after the pregnancy?" Levy stared at him stupidly and suddenly she blushed a nice bright red.

"After, which means my magic would have been severely altered."

"Yep, which means you need to try after the baby." Levy smiled and Gajeel laughed back, leading her down the hill. Natsu watched with jealously and Wendy took Levy's seat.

"We'll find Lucy, Natsu, don't worry."

"I know. I'm too optimistic to not know that. I'm just worried that we'll find her after I've already lost my mind."

* * *

Gray stood watching. He was hidden behind some bushes next to the waterfall. Juvia, clad in a bikini stood under the waterfall, her eyes closed, breathing evenly. He hadn't meant to be a stalker. He'd just gone for a walk after he'd noticed that she was gone from camp. When he'd found the stream he followed it because he liked water. Okay, fine. Who was he kidding? He followed the stream because he figured she'd be around water somewhere. Yes, they'd switched roles and he was proud of it! He sighed once he realized he was arguing with himself. He shook his head to clear the argument from his thoughts. He was here for a reason and he needed to concentrate.

She seemed to be meditating. It was during these moments that Gray truly watched the woman he'd grown to love. Yeah, he could admit to everything now. It had been a long haul, for both of them. He knew enough to know that she'd fallen for him almost instantly. He'd taken years of persuasion. When it all started to switch over, he had no idea. He'd been friends with her right off the bat. He respected her power and he'd admit that it did fascinate him, her control over water. It was so different from his control over ice, and yet, really it wasn't. He was even humble enough now to admit that he _could_ have fallen for her during the Tower of Heaven incident. But at the time his rational brain and fears were far to dominate to listen to his scarred heart.

All he understood, as he watched her, was that somewhere within the last year he'd begun to crave her attention far more than he ever had. He'd go out of his way to make sure she was around for certain events and he had even stopped looking at other women during that time. It had happened so gradually though that he hadn't recognized it until she'd suddenly pulled away. Now, for the first time in his life he could say that he felt cold. Not in temperature, but in spirit. He loved this rain woman and yet he wasn't sure what to do. The truth was that he realized he didn't deserve her. He should have treated her better. He should have at least respected her feelings from the beginning and not used them from time to time for his own benefit and gain. Yes, he loved her and he was pretty sure that if he spoke of his feelings she'd come around. But, was it really the right thing to do? She was trying to free herself from him, only to have him realize he didn't want that. Was it fair to her? No, but he'd go his whole life wondering if he didn't say something now.

Taking a deep breath, he went to step around the bushes when he stopped himself. No, it wasn't fair. She deserved to find someone better. Someone who would love her right away. Someone who could love her as intensely as she loved others. He turned to go back when a whisper stopped him.

"Gray." Crap, she'd seen him. He turned back but her eyes were still closed. Taking a step forward he saw that her mouth was moving and, even though he wasn't sure how he could distinguish them from the water of the falls, tears were rushing down her face.

"Gray," she repeated. "Why can't I forget you? I just want us both happy, but that can't happen while I'm still so hopelessly in love." He shouldn't be hearing this, but he was so glad he was. He smiled, not smirked, for the first time in a long time. Someone really needed to tell Juvia that she had to stop speaking all her inner thoughts out loud.

Somehow, he was already down to just his boxers. Without a second thought he jumped into the pool and waded over to her. She was in too deep of a trance to be aware of him. So she jerked in surprise when he cupped her face and whipped the tears away.

"Gray!"

"Shh, I'm here." He leaned down and kissed her. She stiffened and he was disappointed that she didn't kiss him back but he could understand why she didn't.

When he pulled back he realized that he'd pushed her behind the waterfall and that they were tucked away into a little secluded cave. "Why did you do that Gray?" Juvia finally asked. "Are you trying to be cruel? I'm trying to let you go. After years of trying and practically begging for such affection, you choose to kiss me now?"

"Yes," Gray answered back.

Tears sprang back into her eyes. "Why?"

Gray continued to whip her tears away as he told her everything that he'd been keeping to himself for the past year. The feelings that had changed, the habits and affections that had begun to call him closer and closer to her. She watched him, wide eyed during the speech and she begun to hope as only she could hope.

"So, you love me Gray?"

"Yes, I do." This time it was Juvia who leaned in for the kiss. It was chased at first, as if she wasn't sure if this was real but as he kissed her back with reassurance, it quickly became heated. What might have happened had they been allowed to continue could be easily guessed, but voices interrupted them.

"Juvia!" Wendy's voice called out. "Juvia! It's time for dinner!"

"I don't like this Wendy," Carla said, "Juvia told us she'd be here, but here she is not. Do you think something happened to her?"

"I hope not."

"Hey, have you guys seen Gray," Happy's voice added. "I went looking for him in the direction he was seen walking, but he's nowhere to be found."

"Something must have happened, I'm going for the others," Carla said, turning around. Gray and Juvia listened to their teammates as they raced off. Juvia, blushing profusely, rearranged her bikini and went to step around the waterfall.

"I guess we should go."

"Yeah," Gray answered, thinking of numerous ways to kill them all. However, he realized that it probably was best to stop for now. They needed to talk about a few things and Gray needed to decide on a few things himself before they went physical. But there was one thing he would do here and now.

Reaching up, he grabbed Juvia's hand as they marched back into camp. She was surprised and looked up at him with barely contained pleasure. The rest of the camp silently watched, their mouths agape as Gray lead Juvia to a place around the camp fire handing her a bowl.

"Finally," Erza murmured, which broke the tension. All except for Natsu's, although he was always tense now. However, when Gray caught his eye, Natsu smiled and gave a thumbs-up. Gray smiled back and he and Juvia spoke quietly through dinner. Dinner was just concluding when a stiff breeze came in from their right and Natsu jumped up into his running stance, eyes dilated.

"Salamander," Gajeel said, reacting to his movement, "what's wrong?"

"Her scent. Lucy's scent! And footsteps." Natsu began to race towards the noise and the scent, when he suddenly stopped again. Something was wrong. Her scent was there, but it was small in comparison to another scent. A masculine scent. Natsu went from elated too dangerous in five nanoseconds and he flung himself at the figure who stumbled out of the trees.

He grabbed the man by his arms and flung him on the ground, hard enough to knock the air from his lungs. The man was perhaps his own age, maybe a little younger and he watched the dragon slayer with fear, but also relief. That did confuse Natsu enough to not punch the guy out.

"Natsu, I presume?" He asked once he had his voice back.

"Who wants to know?" Just then the man's scent came back and it triggered a memory. The memory of him watching Lucy being dragged out from her apartment by this guy. The man must have watched Natsu put it together because before Natsu could fry him, he held up Lucy's ribbon.

"Wait! She's alive and I know where she is!"

"Why should I trust you? You took her from me in the first place!"

"On orders! Orders I had to follow. Look, Lucy helped me escape my master's control about two days ago. I can take you to her and we'd better hurry. If we don't, I think he's definitely going to kill her the next time she comes out of the sleeping spell."


	13. Chapter 12

Hey Guys,

I'm posting a day early because tomorrow is going to be really busy. (Cough, cough, going to see Dragon Cry) Anyway, this is a shorter chapter but mostly because I decided to end it on a cliff hanger. Please refrain from death threats. I'll try to get the next, much longer chapter up earlier too. Hopefully Friday.

As always, feel free to leave your comments and reviews. Enjoy!

\- Singed

Disclaimer: I din't own Fairy Tail

* * *

Lucy wasn't awake but she really wasn't asleep either. So, as a consequence she could hear everything around her but not react to it.

Slap! "How dare you! Have you forgotten where your loyalty should lie! I'm your father!"

"I'm sorry father, but Lucy's my friend. I had to protect her."

"You don't need friends you worthless girl! I'm all you'll ever need! Because of you, my perfect plans are falling apart. While she's in this stasis sleep I can't do anything to her." It was quiet for a moment. Lucy could hear the master pacing.

"How long before she wakes up?"

"I'm not sure master. Every time is different." The master sighed before hitting Emma again.

"Let me know immediately when she awakens. That dragon slayer and his friends will be here within the day. I need her to awaken before they break down the barrier."

"And if she doesn't?"

"I'll kill her." There was a pause, followed by a laugh. "Although, I'll have to do that anyway now since she was so determined to stay faithful to that worthless whelp." The door opened and closed. Emma sat in the corner sobbing and Lucy tried to take deep breaths. She was as good as dead anyway. She knew that the master wanted her dead. She never did believed his lie that he'd keep her alive. She had to escape, but how? Emma was being forced to tell the master when she awoke. She didn't have her keys and her celestial spirits couldn't come on their own like they used to.

The worst part was that Lucy could feel the spell slipping. She'd be truly awake soon. Thus, she needed to trick Emma into thinking her spell was still there. 'Natsu,' Lucy thought, 'I need you to hurry up.'

* * *

Natsu glared at the magic shell that covered the house and its property. According to Mikel the spell wasn't as strong now that his magic was no longer a part of it. At least, it shouldn't be. Mikel was actually pretty strong and Natsu smiled at the hatred that burned in his eyes whenever he spoke of the master. He'd be a fantastic ally, especially since he had a lot of magic.

"No!" Erza instructed, "You must stand firm, otherwise an enemy could disarm you. Like this!" Making her point, Erza knocked him over and he laid on the ground, winded. Natsu laughed and turned back. They were so close! She was somewhere behind that barrier and yet, even with the lessened magic, they were having trouble tearing it down.

Levy was staring at it, racking her brain for ideas on how to break the enchantment. Juvia and Gray were slowly eroding the ground in one spot, seeing if they could possibly dig their way through. The Exceeds were flying around the top to see if it was vulnerable from an aerial attack. But so far, no weakness has been found.

"I just don't get it," Mikel said, coming to stand next to Natsu.

"Don't get what?"

Mikel rubbed his red face and Natsu smiled again. When they'd first arrived, Mikel had assured them that the barrier was designed to allow them in so that a battle could take place, but not let them out. The idea was that the master would either kill them or enslave them before they could kill him themselves. Natsu snorted at the memory of how, after explaining this, Mikel went to walk through and got his face bashed in. After that Erza had sent a message through lacrima to Mest. He still had influence within the magic council from time to time. So, he was able to convince them to send men to the town at the bottom of the mountain. He would take the prisoner into custody once he was caught and teleport him to the awaiting forces. However, Natsu's plan was just to kill him. Suddenly, Mikel's voice brought Natsu back to the present.

"Why he suddenly changed the rules of the barrier. When I left, he'd made the glimmer near impossible to see through." He sighed and rubbed his face again. "Although, I should have known. The fact that we could see the manor should have given me a clue that all that power was going into something else."

"Isn't it obvious," Gajeel growled, coming up beside them. "He wasn't expecting to be so weakened. He's fine as long as he can pretend to be weak so that we drop our guard, but he's not fine with actually being weak. He's become more dangerous than he's even been before. Mark my words."

"Why," Levy asked, turning towards him.

"Because he's a cornered animal now. He'll do what he feels he must." Natsu stood in agitation and went off to burn something. Probably many somethings.

The others watched him leave and Mikel turned back to Erza to train a little more when he saw her nod towards the woods. Gajeel mimicked the motion while Gray was already making his way further in. Mikel followed. They took him further from the others than he thought they'd go but finally they turned to face each other.

"Okay guys, will someone tell me what this is all about?" Gray said, obviously agitated.

"Cut the crap Gray," Gajeel growled. "You know why we're here. We need to decide now what to do about Natsu if the worst should happen."

Gray hung his head in anger, but he nodded. "I still think that we're taking this too far. I mean, this is Natsu. How can we even think about … you know."

"I'll make sure the record shows your disapproval of the plan, Gray. However, we all know that if Natsu were being rational right now, he'd ask us to do this. He'd rather die before he tore the world apart or hurt any of us."

"Wait," Mikel said in shock, "you're actually thinking of killing your own friend?"

"If the master should succeed in killing Lucy, then yes." Erza nodded, but her eyes and face were guarded. She was obviously no happier about discussing this than the rest of them.

"So, he will go insane then just like the master said?" Mikel questioned.

"Yep," Gajeel replied. "He'll burn the world and us down around him, along with any other innocent bystander that he may come across. Without Lucy to stop him, he'd literally go on an uncontrollable killing spree."

"So then, why am I here?" Mikel asked.

"You're here to answer our questions." Erza said, pushing him so he was forced to sit on a nearby rock. "Now," she started as if nothing had happened. "Tell us again. What are the master's plans?"

Mikel sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I already told you. I don't know for sure. All I know is that originally he was planning on simply using Lucy as bait and then he'd use his slaver magic to force them to his will. Then, after we'd captured her his plans changed. He wanted them dead. He blames them for his loss of fortune and position within the magical underground." Gray and Gajeel nodded, but Erza's eyes narrowed. Something wasn't adding up.

"Anyway, his plans have now changed again. He plans to use a very dark form of slaver magic. Basically, he's planning to kill both Lucy and Natsu but enslave their souls so that they are trapped within their dead bodies. At least it was the newest plan until I escaped. If I had to hazard a guess now he's probably planning on just killing Lucy and enslaving Natsu, once he's insane. But he might also just kill them both."

"You said that he'd lost his wealth and position. What do you mean?"

"I was only a kid back then, but my brother and I were already enslaved to him. One day, he just spirited us away and we were on the run for years. Within that time we picked up Emma and he kept us moving and hiding. He'd ask about Natsu and Lucy whenever he thought it was safe to gather information because he wanted his revenge. It was a happy day for all of us when Tenrou Island disappeared. It was a horrible day when you guys returned seven years later."

"So then, he blames Natsu and Lucy for his misfortunes."

"Yeah. The best I can determine, they foiled his entire business and got all of his partners arrested in one fell swoop. Honestly, it really doesn't matter. What does is that he's in a dangerous position to gain his revenge."

"Hold on," Gray said, finally seeing that some dots were missing. "If he lost everything then how'd he get this place?"

"Well, before he lost everything this was his home. He just showed back up one day, happy as a clam. He told us that we were going back to the manor and were starting on a new venture. We knew better than to ask. He claimed that all his debtors had been paid and he was even given some money to start this new endeavor."

"Given?" Gajeel mimicked. Erza, Gray, and Gajeel looked at each other with meaning.

"Alright, thank you Mikel. You may go." Mikel did as told, but he looked back at the group. They'd found a trail but he wasn't going to get involved. He just wanted to get Emma out and disappear.

"What do you think this means Erza?" Gray asked, watching Mikel walk away.

"I'm not sure. However, I think that someone else is pulling the strings behind this whole thing."

"Does this actually change anything?" Gajeel sighed. The other two looked at him. "I mean, we still need to rescue Lucy or kill Natsu if we fail. Coming up with a conspiracy theory seems a waste of time to me."

Erza nodded. "You're right Gajeel. We must focus on the problem at hand. If there is something else to worry about, we'll do so later." Gajeel and Gray nodded and followed Mikel. Erza followed but her conscious was unsatisfied.

* * *

The master paced in agitation. Lucy would have to be killed. There was no getting around that now. True, that had been his plan from the beginning but in order for the soul link to give the appearance of life to her dead body, she had to be awake when he killed her. He sighed at how complicated the forced slaver plan was. In truth, it was because Natsu had to be insane for him to even have a prayer to use slaver magic on him. Dragon slayers were different. Human still, but they had to agree to be enslaved for it to take effect. Thus, lying that he could bring Lucy back when Natsu was too insane to think rationally had been his plan. He'd kill her then tell Natsu he could bring her back if he'd agree to be his slave. Natsu would go along with it. The master would appear to uphold his end of the deal and then he'd kill Natsu for good measure. The master slammed his fist to the desk. His plan for his own personal dragon slayer puppet was going up in smoke, no pun intended.

There was little else he could do though. If Lucy was asleep when they got through the barrier in a few hours he'd just have to kill her and lose his bargaining chip. He would just have to send Natsu over the edge of insanity and watch him destroy his friends and himself. He'd enjoy seeing that too. He was positive that he could hide long enough to escape his notice when his friends would be easier targets.

Still, the master knew there was a huge amount of danger to himself, but if he killed her behind the barrier while it was still up he'd have enough time to escape and hide. Yes, that was the best plan now. Especially since his benefactors would be after him too once he'd lost Natsu and Lucy. The master turned towards his desk and began packing his most essential items. As he opened the last drawer, he stumbled upon a ring of keys.

"Humm, well you're all practically useless now aren't you? I can't even sell you since it would just leave a trail to follow." Standing he grabbed his bag and ceremonial knife while he threw the celestial keys into the waste basket.

* * *

Lucy had maybe ten minutes, if she were lucky. Lucy had been lying motionless for hours while she listened to Emma go about her business. Seriously, how could someone watch someone else sleep for that long? Finally, she left, promising to be back soon. Lucy wasted no time. Her muscles were sore, but easily dealt with. She tiptoed over to the closet and pulled out clothes that would suit a more adventurous situation. Changing quickly, she grabbed the letter opener and raced from the terrace. The door opened without a sound and Lucy poked her head out, making sure the coast was clear.

She was just stepping out when a bright light shot up from behind the barrier, followed by a yell. She'd know that fire and that voice anywhere. It was Natsu! He was right there! She took a step forward only to have Emma's hand stop her.

"Wait Lucy! You can't!"

"Emma! Please let me go. The master's going to kill me and they're all right there behind the barrier. I have to leave."

"Wait, you mustn't, Lucy!" Confused, Lucy was struggling to break free when both girls stopped at the sound of heavy footsteps.

"Emma," the master's voice called from the other side, "is the sacrifice finally awake?" Lucy swallowed hard.

* * *

Natsu finally felt a little better as he burnt yet another tree. Animals were fleeing in all directions and it took every ounce of his will power to not target them next. The old Natsu wouldn't dream of targeting anything alive and innocent. Going crazy Natsu wanted the world to burn. He had dreams every night of lighting the world on fire and laughing. He always woke up feeling better, and then feeling guilty. If he didn't dream about fire, then he about Lucy. Those were the only dreams he never felt guilty about.

"Natsu!" Gray's voice called from the direction of the house. "Get over here, quick!" Natsu raced back to see everyone gathered around a certain spot by the barrier. Natsu rushed forward and instantly saw Lucy.

"Lucy!" He raced over and dove head first into the barrier but was flung back through the air.

A man's cruel laugh echoed around them. Natsu saw the faceless man for the first time in person, holding Lucy by an arm pressing a knife to her throat. "Even if I hadn't seen him before, I'd assume that the man who just concussed himself is her mate."

"Natsu! Run," Lucy cried. "Just run! He's trying to push you over the edge! Just forget about me!"

"I'd never do that Luce!" Natsu bellowed and then he turned all his fury onto the faceless man. "Let her go!"

"Tsk dragon slayer, I've had her this long. Why should I let her go now?"

"Because maybe if you do I'll make your death quick and painless."

"Hmm, well since it seems I'm to die either way I think I'll take her with me." Before anyone could do anything else, the man cut Lucy's throat.


	14. Chapter 13

Hey Guys,

Okay, the climax is finally here! There will definitely be one more chapter and then an epilogue after this. I'm also playing around with the idea of a sequel, since I did leave the option for one. Anyway, I have an idea but it will definitely be even more fan-girl than this one if I stick to the current plot line. I'll make my decision soon.

As always, hope you enjoy and feel free to leave your comments and reviews.

\- Singed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

P.S. Good job for those of you who saw right through me.

* * *

The reaction was instantaneous. Levy screams echoed, wrenching the hearts of everyone. Wendy burst into tears. Gray jumped back in horror as rain poured down from the heavens due to Juvia. Carla and Happy huddled crying with Wendy and Erza screamed in fury. Natsu however created a massive explosion. He'd seen the master's intent just before he started moving the knife. Natsu hit the force field with so much magical energy that to this day people wonder how he could have channeled that much energy with just his own flesh at one time. His reputation helped since channeling large amounts of energy is a trade mark of his, but this was still on a whole other level, even for him. He should have been dead.

The force field shattered and rained on the house and the grounds. The shockwave caused the house to shake and there wasn't a window left. As the dust cleared, the party stood up after being knocked to the ground. They saw Natsu standing over Lucy's body. They couldn't see his face but they prepared for his wrath. Gajeel, Gray, and Erza looked at each other. This was it. If Natsu snapped, they'd kill him for his own good. The master was currently hobbling away from them, obviously stunned but still determined to run away.

"I'll go after him," Juvia said.

"I'll go with you," Wendy volunteered.

"No," Natsu's voice left no room for arguing. "He's mine. Besides I need the rest of you to search the house."

"What for?" Gajeel asked.

"To search for the real Lucy. This isn't her." Everyone sagged a little, pitying him. He wasn't coming to terms with reality. How could he determine that this wasn't her? It was obviously her.

"Natsu," Wendy tried.

"This isn't her!" He screamed, turning around to face them, his eyes wild. "It's a copy, almost an exact one, but there something to the smell, just under the surface. It isn't right. Plus, I'd know if Lucy were dead!" He touched his chest where the bond lay and Gajeel nodded to Erza and Gray. He understood what he meant.

"Well," Lucy's voice suddenly said from the ground, "I guess I'll have to do a better job next time." Everyone jumped back and looked at the ground, now staring at Gemini. The twins floated up and stared at Natsu, who nodded towards them.

The twins laughed and transformed into Natsu. In his serious voice, they said, "Better get hunting flame brain." For the first time in months a smirked graced Natsu's lips and he ran off.

* * *

Ten Minutes Earlier

"Emma," the master's voice called from the other side, "is the sacrifice finally awake." Lucy swallowed hard.

"Yes," Emma called, pushing Lucy behind the changing screen, just as the door opened. "She's getting changed into some real clothes."

The master said something else, but Lucy wasn't listening. As Emma had pushed her behind the screen, she'd given Lucy two things. The first were her keys. Her heart leapt at the sight of them and she could have hugged the girl. The second was a bust of magical energy. Lucy checked this in a split second and realized that this girl, her friend, had given her just enough to override the master's spell and call one of her spirits. In utter silence she called Gemini. Utterly silent, they greeted her with joy and hugged her fiercely.

"Come out now Lucy!" The master called. "It is time we sealed your fate." Gemini transformed into Lucy and stepped out. They were dragged out by the master, complaining of rough treatment. Emma, falling for the act gasped and rushed around obviously trying to decide what she could do.

"Emma," Lucy hissed.

"Lucy!"

"Shhh. Come here." Emma did as requested and hugged her.

"Oh Lucy, I thought that he had you."

"No, that is one of my spirits, Gemini. How did you do all this Emma?"

"Well, when Mikel broke his spell it would seem that I broke mine as well; although I didn't realize this until afterwards. I continued to feed the master my power, but it was of my own will. I have been defying him for days. I happened to find your keys when I went to his study, looking for him to explain that you still weren't up."

"How did you know that giving me that magical energy would be enough to counteract his spell over me?"

Emma shrugged. "I didn't. I just did what felt right." Lucy smiled and hugged her friend. Just as Lucy pulled away, they felt the house rock and the windows in the room shattered. Screaming, Lucy covered Emma and they waited until everything grew quiet again.

"The barrier's gone," Emma said, looking outside. Lucy could see it too. A smile began to spread, which she lost to a new shaking of the house. Only this time, it sounded less like magic breaking and more like a house exploding and catching on fire.

"That would be Natsu," Lucy smiled as she stood and began racing towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Emma asked.

"Towards the fire. Where there's a flame, there's a Natsu. Go find a way out Emma, because I'm about to run into danger."

"You mean the master?" Emma's voice followed as Lucy started running down the hallway towards the distance orange glow.

"No," Lucy called back. "Natsu may not mean to be, but he's the most dangerous person I know!"

* * *

Natsu was on the hunt. He had to find him. He had to find him and kill him! He deserved to die. He needed to die! Natsu had gotten a whiff of his scent just before the coward ran off. Now, he was like a blood hound. He wasn't giving up until that scent was destroyed, burned, and purified.

The small part of him that wasn't running with this insane agenda, hoped against hope that he'd run into none of his friends now. The girls he knew he'd just ignore, but the boys, yeah, he'd probably kill them. It was this certainty that hurt Natsu the most. He'd do anything for his guild, but at the moment, it would appear that he'd actually do anything for Lucy. Of course, she'd hate him if he did that, so it wasn't really for Lucy anymore. It was for his crazy instincts that wouldn't leave him alone!

Suddenly, the scent of his pray was right there and Natsu dove into some bushed next to the house. The man was waiting for him and he struck Natsu across the face with some type of magical instrument. Whatever it was hurt!

"Gaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!" He screamed as he lit his body, the bushes, and the side of the house on fire. He'd hoped to get the loser in front of him too, but he'd been just fast enough to avoid the flames.

"So dragon slayer, it would seem that you and I are finally going to battle."

"Won't be much of a battle." Natsu said, stepping out of the bushes and walking towards the man. "In the past there always seemed to be some type of restraint on me whenever I fought. Maybe it was my own willpower to not destroy _everything_ , but that's gone. You made sure that my sanity is all but gone. I will destroy you and this house without restraint, but first you're going to tell me."

During his speech, Natsu continued walking towards the man. The faceless man backed up each time but when Natsu lunged for him the man couldn't react quickly enough. Grabbing the front of his shirt, Natsu suddenly found himself face to face with the faceless man. Whatever enchantment he'd place over himself couldn't handle the heat radiating off of Natsu and it began to melt. It was relieving to see eyes actually looking back at him. They looked familiar.

"You're going to tell me where my Lucy is."

"Dead!" The man laughed. "You're more gone than I thought. Didn't you just see me slit her throat?" Natsu tightened his grip and slammed the man into the ground over and over again.

"Natsu stop!" Erza commanded.

Natsu ignored her. "No! Not until he tells me where she is!"

"Dead," his voice croaked from his broken body, "I killed her myself. My best and final revenge for this dragon slayer." The master slumped in a faint. Natsu gripped the unconscious man and started to smolder his clothes. He'd burn him to a crisp and then go on another hunt.

"Stop him!" Levy cried behind him.

"Yeah, you have to do something!" Natsu snorted. Like anyone could stop him now.

Suddenly, the breeze shifted and it brought a voice and a scent. "Natsu," it called gently. "Stop. You don't have to do this now." Her voice, her scent, it was like his world was finally clearing after months. He dropped the man and turned slowly, seeing his Lucy limping towards him. Juvia and Wendy were helping her to walk across the lawn. Her ankle was badly injured, she was covered in bruises, she was coated in soot, and based on her voice she'd breathed in plenty of smoke. But she was perfect. His Lucy was perfect.

* * *

Lucy stumbled as she raced through the burning halls. She had to make it, she just had too! It had been a year, the worst possible year of her life! She had been heartbroken, she'd been scared, she'd been alone, she'd been guilty, and worst of all, she had led the people she loved into terrible danger. Somewhere she knew she wasn't really at fault. She had just been the crux of someone else's plane to destroy Natsu.

"Idiot," she whispered as she turned a corner, racing for the stairs. It wasn't his fault either, not really. They had both made plenty of enemies along the way and she wasn't stupid. She'd always assumed that one would try and come back for revenge. No, she wasn't stupid, she'd just been naive to believe that none of their former enemies would be patient enough to go through with such an elaborate plan. They'd waited. Waited for what they'd apparently figured out well before anyone else had. If she'd had time and if she'd been foolish enough to believe that Natsu would leave him alive, she'd ask what had given it away. Obviously, this had all started after her and Natsu had figured it out, but still, the enemy had known for at least a year before they had. So seriously, how did that work?

Suddenly, a section of wall exploded and flames licked at her as she just barely side stepped them. She had to get out now!

"Lucy!" That voice! Turning, she saw Gray and Juvia down at the end of the hall.

"Gray! What are you doing here?"

"Helping Natsu rescue you! What do you think? Come on, we have to get you down the stairs and out of here before this whole place goes!" Lucy nodded and raced after them. They reached the stairs soon enough and when Lucy saw the destruction of the great hall, she gasped. It had once been so beautiful, but now… it was in utter pieces. Nothing stood and the house groaned with the fire and the destruction. Gray and Juvia had raced forward, passing her in their hurry to escape. Gray finally realized that she'd paused at the top.

"Lucy, come on! What are you…" Gray never got to finish, because the stairs holding her collapsed. Lucy rolled as soon as she hit the ground, but not before an excruciating pain raced up from her ankle.

"Gaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!" A voice screamed from somewhere outside and a huge fire explosion lit up the windows.

"Natsu," Lucy whispered, knowing that scream.

"Love Rival!" Juvia exclaimed leaning down, examining her leg which was starting to swell.

"Juvia," Lucy said through clenched teeth, "you should know by now that I am not, nor ever will be, your love rival."

"Yeah, seriously Juvia," Gray said. "I figured that you'd know that by now." A pleased blush raced up her face, and Lucy paused to look at them. Apparently, a lot had happened in the nine months she'd actually been captured. She'd have to find out later.

"Gray," Juvia, finally said, "Lucy cannot walk." Lucy was concerned over the strange look that passed between them. It was a look of defeat.

"Well Gray, just carry me out."

"I can't," he answered immediately.

"Why, are you injured?"

"No."

"Then why not?"

"Because if I do, if any of us men touch you, Natsu will kill us!" Lucy honed in on Gray's eyes and saw that he spoke the truth. The building was burning around them and Lucy was in serious pain, but all Lucy was aware of that she was going to have to break Natsu of his protective streak.

"Well then Juvia will just have to help me. My other ankle is fine." It took a little longer than it should have to get righted, but Lucy was hobbling briskly towards the door as the walls and ceilings started caving in. She'd have to speak to her mate about his destruction later. It had been a nice house.

"So this assumed death threat," Lucy said, as Gray kicked the doors off their hinges and helped Juvia and Lucy through the door. "Is it for real?"

"Yes. He never came right out and said it, but Natsu is going to kill someone today and I am doing everything I can to make sure it isn't me."

"I see."

"Lucy," Juvia cut in. "Natsu isn't quite himself. He will need to be handled with care." Lucy nodded and continued limping on when Gajeel and an obviously pregnant, though still tiny Levy, came around the corner. Happy, Carla, and Wendy were close behind.

"Lucy!" Levy squealed and ran up, hugging her.

"See, I told you Levy. Never mistrust my noise again."

"Oh, like the time you told me the milk was fine."

"It was! For the stomach of a dragon slayer that is." The banter continued, but Lucy was looking around for her pink haired partner.

"Where's Natsu?"

"Natsu stop!" Erza's voice commanded around the corner. The group hurried as best they could, hindered by the injured Lucy. When Lucy did finally make it around the corner, she saw something that broke her heart. Natsu, crazy eyed and broken, slamming the master over and over again into the ground. He'd always been reckless but never crazy.

"No! Not until he tells me where she is!" Natsu finally answered Erza. She was watching the dragon slayer with hooded eyes and Lucy knew that Erza was preparing herself to stop Natsu at any cost. Lucy motioned for Juvia to help her forward, grateful for when Wendy joined in to help.

"Dead," the master's voice croaked from his broken body, "I killed her myself. My best and final revenge for this dragon slayer." Still a good ways away, it took Lucy and the others a few seconds to see the smoke rising from the man's clothes.

"Stop him!" Levy cried behind her, clutching at Gajeel.

"Yeah, you have to do something!" Wendy said next to her. It would seem that everyone knew that if anyone could stop Natsu it was her. She was still so far away! How could she stop him? Her voice was raw and cracked. She needed to reach him somehow. Suddenly, Wendy said something under her breath and a breeze shot forth behind them.

Lucy knew help when she received it. "Natsu," she called more gently than she felt. "Stop. You don't have to do this now." The response was instantaneous. Natsu dropped the man and turned. His eyes were wide and looked at her like she was the most wonderful thing he'd ever seen. Well, she could understand since she was feeling the same. He was bruised, bleeding, and definitely disheveled, but he was the most perfect thing she'd ever glimpsed.

She continued to limp forward a few more moments, when he finally took a small step forward. She smiled at the move and this seemed to be what opened the flood gate. He was running now. Juvia and Wendy had just enough time to jump aside as he reached her and picked her up. He cradled her, molding her firmly, but gently to him. Lucy wrapped her own arms around the dragon slayer and she stroked his hair as he buried his head under her chin, breathing in her scent deeply.

She felt the coolness of water as it met her skin and at first, she though it was her own tears streaming down her face. She realized after a moment that they were Natsu's. Lucy clutched him harder and both of them began to cry in earnest. The rest of their party was forgotten and they were glad for it.

"Happy," Erza commanded, "you and Carla need to go back to town as fast as possible and let Mest know that we have caught this master. He should be there by now. Just lead them here. Gajeel, you and Gray need to tie him up and put him somewhere where our fire breather can't get to him." The commands were followed and Erza had Levy and Wendy begin rearranging the cart to transport Lucy and Levy back down the hill.

"Wendy, do you think you could look at Lucy's ankle?" Erza asked once the cart was ready.

"Umm, maybe in a bit. I don't think I want to interrupt them." Erza followed her gaze. She was half worried that perhaps they were making out, or worse. But no, they were still hugging. The crying was over but it was still such an intimate moment that Erza smiled.

"Yes, I see your point."

* * *

"Natsu," Lucy finally whispered. She had been aware of some of the activity around them, but she had been to content to really pay attention. "My legs are falling asleep. Could we go somewhere else?" They had knelt sometime during their reunion and suddenly Lucy was struck with just how uncomfortable this all was.

Natsu pulled away from her and smiled with his trademark grin. "Sorry Lucy, I'll fix it." He stood and picked her up before carrying her to the cart. Lucy may have been only partially aware of the commotion around them, but Natsu was still on high alert. He'd taken in everything, because while he may finally have had Lucy back, he was still worried someone may have tried to hurt her again. Thus, he knew why the girls had rearranged the cart.

"Wendy," he called.

"Yes?"

"You can look at her ankle now." Natsu took a step back and crossed his arms, looking at the girl.

"Oh, like right now?"

"Yeah. Is there a problem?"

"No, no," the obviously concerned girl said. "No problem, it's just with you standing there, watching me like that, well it makes me nervous."

"Oh," Natsu said, taking a step back. "Is that better?" Wendy smiled, but it was just to hide her unease. "Not really, but it'll do." Wendy climbed into the cart and began healing Lucy's leg. Lucy was aware of Natsu's ever watching eyes so she tried not to grimace.

"How have you been Wendy?"

"Oh, good Lucy! Especially compared to you! I mean, it must have been awful!"

"Well, it wasn't pleasant, but until the end, it wasn't too bad. In fact, I made two new friends. Wait," Lucy said, in near panic, "Where's Emma?"

"I'm here!" Emma called, racing around the building, followed quickly by Mikel. Natsu tensed as the other male grew closer to his still unclaimed mate but Lucy's outstretched hand, grabbing his arm, stopped him.

"I'm glad you're safe," she said, smiling.

"Yeah! I was around back, trying to save some of the more priceless items, when Mikel found me."

"I scolded her for being stupid, then told her where she could find you." Lucy noticed that he took Emma's hand in his and Lucy smiled at how Emma lit up.

"So what will you do now?" Erza asked.

"I'm going after my brother. I'm not entirely sure where to find him, but he needs to know that Emma and I are free. From there, I'm not sure."

"Well, you obviously have some impressive magic. When you find your bother, you should think about joining a guild." Lucy rolled her eyes at how this was Erza's answer for everything. Mikel however seemed to take the advice seriously and Emma squeezed his hand.

"What of you Emma," Lucy asked. "What are you going to do?"

"Go with Mikel, I mean if that's alright." Mikel seemed shocked at the announcement, but a brilliant smile lit his face and he nodded.

"I'd take you anywhere Emma."

"Then you should leave before Mest arrives with the unit from the magic council. You may have kidnapped Lucy under orders and magic control, but the magic council may not care." Mikel nodded and taking Emma's hand once more, pulled her along. Emma stopped and raced back to Lucy one more time. She jumped up into the cart and hugged her.

"Thanks for being my friend."

"Thanks for risking your life for me." Emma smiled and jumped down, racing off into the trees with Mikel.

"And don't be a stranger! Come visit us!"

"We will," the call answered. Lucy smiled, as Wendy finally stood.

"Well, that's as good as I'll get it Lucy. It'll require a few days rest though."

"Yes," Erza said. "Once we get to town, we'll stay there for a week. Everyone needs some time to recover and you two," she said pointing to Natsu and Lucy, "need to get this bond finished." Lucy blushed scarlet, as Natsu shot her a devilish grin, one that spoke of promises. Wendy covered her mouth and Levy laughed, remembering her first time with Gajeel fondly.

"Erza!" Mest called from the trees.

"Ah Mest, I'm glad you could make it so promptly. Come, I'll take you to the prisoner." Natsu stiffened and watched them walk off. He wanted nothing more than to go kill that man, but he also knew that if he did, now that the battle was over that it'd be murder and he'd never see Lucy again.

"Natsu," Lucy called, seeing his mind. "Why don't you come in here? It's not moving yet." Wendy and Levy left discreetly as Natsu did as requested. He laid down next to Lucy and curled around her, covering her protectively.

"I missed you Luce," he said, playing with her fingers.

Lucy sighed and kissed his hand, cradling it next to her chest. "You know," she said after a moment, "I always thought that I'd never feel so lonely as I did when I was a prisoner in my father's house. But these past few months, I've never felt more alone in my life." She turned so she could face him.

"Fairy Tail maybe my home Natsu, but you, you are my reason for breathing. You saved me and brought me to my home and all my friends." Natsu smiled and kissed her forehead.

"I know how you feel. I was literally losing my mind without you. Now I'll get what little I had back, I guess." Lucy smiled and kissed him properly. She meant it to be chaise, but Natsu's dragon instincts took over and he grabbed her head, deepening it. Lucy, a bit surprised, but longing for the contact all the same, ran her hands through his hair, helping him deepen it. It was when his tongue slipped into her mouth that Lucy realized that she might have to put the brakes on this now or risk being caught in the act by their friends. Luckily, Happy came along.

"Natsu!" He called, flying back through the trees. Natsu sighed in annoyance, but nipped her bottom lip as if to say 'we'll finish this later.'

"Yeah," he called sitting up.

"How's Lucy!"

"I'm fine Happy, you can come in," Happy flew in speedily and attached himself to Lucy.

"I was so worried," he cried, and Lucy hugged him.

"Don't cry Happy, I'm fine now."

"Well, I for one, am most glad for your recovery," Carla said, flying in a much more dignified manner than Happy had.

"Thanks Carla."

"Thank you," Mest's voice called from around the building, "We'll take him from here. I have an entire unit waiting for us in the town. He'll be imprisoned until his trial, and we'll inform you as to when that it."

"Thank you Mest." He nodded and a soldier he'd brought with him began escorting the master towards the forest. Natsu stiffened and positioned himself in front of Lucy. The master however, turned and saw her staring back.

"No!" He screamed. "You should be dead! I killed you! I killed you!" The last words faded as they were transported away from the house. Something about his face however nagged at Lucy.

"Where have we seen him before Natsu?"

Natsu, who had been staring after him, snorted in disgust. "I never forget a smell. I fought and defeated his gang of lowlifes just before I meet you. It was pretty simple and it turned out they were doing some very illegal things, more than anyone was aware. I thought he'd been locked up, but we met him again, about a year later. I recognized the smell, but I never bothered to go after him because he was obviously just an accomplice in that whole thing. I wish I had. If he'd been locked up a second time, maybe none of this would have happened."

"Which job? The robbers in Maple?"

"No, those smugglers in Dogwood."

"Oh," Lucy said, sitting up, suddenly remembering. "That's where I saw him! You and Gray were in there, beating everyone up. I chased a guy down an alley and hit him with my whip. He dropped something. It turned out to be that unbelievably powerful magical item the council had been looking for at the time, the one that got stolen. That must have been why he was so angry with me. He obviously wanted it." Natsu nodded and watched as everyone else in their group returned. Natsu took a deep breath and let it out. For the first time in months, things felt right.


	15. Chapter 14

Hey Guys,

Last official chapter. It's been fun! I can't believe my first fan fic. is almost complete. Like I said earlier, there will be an epilogue.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

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The first thing Lucy was aware of was just how peaceful she felt. She sighed in complete contentment and nuzzled into her pillow. The second thing she realized was that her pillow was not feather and cotton, but muscle and skin. Opening one eye slowly Lucy saw in the light of dawn a very toned chest rising and falling before her. Peering up, she saw the sleeping face of Natsu. He looked more peaceful than she'd ever seen him and in pure affection, she reached up and touched his cheek. Her hand continued north, pushing his bangs back.

Feeling so over whelmed by the love she felt for him, she placed her head back on his chest and nuzzled closer. He responded in his sleep by pulling her more firmly to him and sighing. Her lips turned up and she stifled a giggle. That was when she realized that she needed to go to the bathroom, which was probably what awoke her in the first place. It was as she tried to move his arm away from her waist and rise that she realized that she was naked and so was he.

Suddenly, her memories came flooding back from the day before. The rescue, the ride into town as she and Levy spoke of her child and what Levy and Gajeel's plans were. A celebration dinner at the inn followed and then the embarrassing realization that Erza, at the urging of Gajeel, had rented a house on the outskirts of town so that Natsu and Lucy wouldn't "disturb the others."

"We won't be that loud!"

"Yeah, you say that now, but you'll see," Gajeel joked as he led Levy up the stairs.

"Don't worry Luce!" Levy called back, winking, "you'll have fun." Lucy had blushed beat red. Natsu had simply smiled at her and his eyes lit up like he was on fire. This just caused her to be more embarrassed. Natsu and her had walked to the house, hand in hand, talking about anything and everything just like they'd never been parted.

When they reached their temporary abode, Lucy had stopped, realizing what was probably expected of her behind that door. When they'd started all this months ago, she had been ready, more than ready, but now? It had just been such a long time. She wanted it to be a natural event not something forced.

"Lucy," Natsu said, taking both of her hands. "We don't have to do anything tonight, if you don't want to."

"Really?" She asked skeptically. "I mean, you're losing your mind Natsu."

"Yeah, but you've always known that." He grinned and Lucy laughed, smiling back. She hugged him tightly and he gladly held her under the stars. That night, they didn't finished the bond. Instead, they'd just talked and held each other, perfectly content to just be there by the other's side. It had been the next morning that had been the difference. They'd fallen asleep sometime in the early hours of the morning and had slept well past when they normally would have gotten up. Lucy had finally awoken to Natsu's stomach protesting the lack of food.

"What do you want for breakfast?!" She called as he took his shower.

"Whatever! I'm just starving!" Lucy smiled and shook her head. She had to hand it to Erza though, the woman had done a good job food stocking. Then again, Erza knew Natsu so it wasn't all that surprising. Lucy decided to make Natsu's favorite, pancakes, bacon, sausage and hash browns. She added chocolate chips to the pancakes as an extra treat for herself. She was happy to hear the water shut off just as she finished making the last thing.

"Man does that smell good!" Lucy turned her smile to Natsu, only to have it fall from her face. He'd shown up to the table in a towel. This wasn't so shocking, but something about seeing him like that set her blood on fire. Embarrassed by her own reaction, she quickly sat down and started digging in. Natsu gave her a puzzled look and opened his mouth to question her but thought better of it and started eating as well. He was a few bites into his breakfast when he started sniffing the air in earnest. Suddenly, he stopped and turned a startled look at her which quickly turned teasing and very happy.

If the sight of him in a towel hadn't excited her already, this definitely would have. "What?" She asked, trying to play innocent.

He took another large whiff of the air and his smile increased. "I think you're hungry too, Luce."

Blushing furiously, she started eating her breakfast at breakneck speed. "Of course I'm hungry. I'm eating aren't I?" She heard his chair move and his arm placed itself between her and her plate, the other landed on the back of her chair. He pushed his nose right below her ear and took another big draw of air, the sound and movement causing her to flutter her eyes close in pleasure.

"You smell hungry." He whispered.

"Then let me eat." She retorted.

"Not that kind," he whispered back, starting to kiss down her neck. Her eyes opened in shock and she was about to let him take this where he would, but then she spied his plate. It was almost completely full! If she let this go, the giant breakfast she made would be ruined and cold, and then he'd complain of hunger later.

"Natsu," she said, horrified at how out of breath she sounded.

"Hmmm?"

"Why don't we play a game?"

"Already playing one."

"I mean, why don't we make it a better one." He stopped his assault on her neck to pull back slightly. She was shocked to see how dilated his eyes were. Oh. She needed to hurry.

"How do you propose we do that?"

"Well, you like to eat right?"

"Up until a few moments ago, my favorite thing." Yep, she was a goner.

"Well, how about we add an eating contest to this. Whoever finishes their plate first gets to choose what we do next."

He leaned close to her face again and asked, his breath tickling her lips, "What exactly do you want to do next?"

"Read, maybe write a little." His look told her he knew she was lying through her teeth, but he was also perfectly willing to humor her. Picking up his plate, his eyes still on her, he leaned back and started devouring his food. Lucy watched in fascination for a moment, before she realized that she had to start eating too or she'd be the hungry one during their fun time. She got maybe through a third of her remaining food by the time he was done, and he'd had at least four times the food on his plate to begin with.

He dropped his empty plate on the table, the sound of it spinning causing her to chew faster. She made the mistake of looking up as she brought her fork up to her lips. He was watching her with such intensity that she gulped her mouth full of food down without chewing.

"Done?" He purred.

Looking down, Lucy shoveled the rest of her pancakes into her mouth, added some milk to help the chewing and nodded as she swallowed. She hadn't even known she'd left the chair until her back was against the wall and his lips were pressed to hers.

* * *

She now surveyed the evidence of their passion. Hours of passion, actually. It would take her awhile to find a way to get her bra from the light fixture on the ceiling. She wasn't even sure if it had been her or Natsu that had thrown it. Looking out the window, she saw that what she'd mistaken for sunrise was actually sunset. It would seem after their mating they'd taken a nap. Standing and stretching Lucy decided it was time for her own shower.

As she washed, she found more evidence of their activities and she was going to have to get creative with her outfits if she was planning on covering up all his love nips. Finally feeling clean, she dressed and walked back into the bedroom. He was still asleep. Good, maybe she could clean up the kitchen now and start on their next meal. Breakfast was how they left it and she had just finished drying the last dish, when a pair of arms encircled her waist.

"Hey, I was wondering when you'd get up." He didn't answer and she felt his head land on her shoulder. That was when she realized how tense he was.

"Natsu?" She tried to pull away to get a better look at him, but he squeezed tighter.

"Just give me a minute Lucy. I just need a minute." Confused at his obvious distress, she placed her hands over his and let him take a few deep breaths before he finally eased up and stepped back. Turning around, she saw him looking at her with such sorrow that she cupped his face in her hands.

"What's wrong?"

"I just… I woke up and you weren't there. I thought ... I thought everything that had happened in the last couple of days was a dream. I've never felt like that before. If I hadn't heard you in the kitchen and then smelled you, I think I might have torn the room apart in panic."

"Natsu," she said hugging him soundly.

"I'm sorry Lucy," he said, hugging her back. "I think, at least for now, I'll need to wake with you there."

"No, I'm sorry Natsu. I should have woken you when I got up. I just thought you needed the sleep." He nodded and then they fell into making dinner together. They made promises to each other that night, but only if they knew they could keep them. Lucy promised to always wake Natsu if she awoke first and Natsu promised that he'd try to get over this fear that the master and his instincts had instilled in him.

By the end of the week, Natsu and Lucy joined the others for the train ride back. Wendy was able to give Natsu a sleeping draft and he slept with his head pillowed on Lucy's lap. This unfortunately left Lucy alone with the teasing of her guild mates.

"So, admit it," Gajeel chuckled, "you're glad you could be as loud as you wanted."

"I'll admit no such thing! But if you and Levy find a thank you card in your mailbox later this week, it's from us." They all laughed, except for Erza who snorted in annoyance.

"Well, it didn't help me." Erza complained.

"Why?" Wendy asked.

"Because _my_ neighbors were just as noisy in their amorous affairs as I'm sure you two were."

"Tough break," Happy said.

"Wait," Carla interjected, "weren't your neighbors …" Everyone looked at Gray and Juvia. She instantly melted into water and he went on the defensive.

"Hey, you can't prove that was us!"

"Let's see," Erza said, leaning back. "I distinctly remember a few phrases. 'Oh my darling Gray, you're going to make me boil!' Of course, my favorite had to be Gray's response of…"

"Okay fine! Whatever! We'll be quieter next time."

"Good." Erza said. "Although, I am glad that you and she have finally settled all this." Juvia, who had returned to human form blushed and looked down.

"Yeah," Gray said, "me too." Juvia smiled up at him and he smirked, taking her hand.

Lucy smiled and turned her gaze out the window. Everything was finally as it should have been. It wasn't how she'd have written it and she definitely did not want to relive most of it. But if there was one lesson she'd gotten out of all this, it was that if you had friends like Fairy Tail they'd go through anything to turn a bad year around.


	16. Epilogue

Hey Guys,

As promised, here is the epilogue. You guys have been awesome! Hopefully I can start on something new soon.

Hope you enjoy!

\- Singed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

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Lucy scoffed and tried to hold onto her anger. She refused to look down at those pleading, sickened eyes. She was too busy watching the scenery from the train window.

"Oh come on, Lucy! Please!"

"Oh, just shut up," she whispered before deciding she really didn't want him to whine any more. She started to run her fingers through his hair which was precisely what he wanted. They had learned a few months ago that this seemed to calm him just enough that he could control whether he actually threw up or not.

"I'm still mad at you," she said not looking at him. His head, cradled in her lap, moved a little so that he was facing her stomach.

He sighed and nodded. "Yeah I know."

"You cost us our pay, Natsu."

"Can you blame me, Lucy?" Natsu sat up and looked at her, anger shining in his eyes. He wasn't angry at her but the memory was getting him riled up.

"Yes, I can. It's been two years, Natsu. You'd think you'd have gotten over this overprotective mate stuff."

He looked at her seriously for a moment before settling back down and saying, "You know why I haven't." She started running her fingers through his hair again and sighed. Yes, she knew why. He'd gotten better these past two years, but he'd always carry the emotional scars of losing her for those eight months. So, when the perverted, handsy client made a pass at her after the job was done, Natsu clocked him. They'd decided to leave before he woke and pressed charges. It had been great pay for such a simple job too. Lucy stopped to look at her left hand before she got too angry again. Her wedding ring shone brightly and she sighed.

Yeah, that guy was a jerk. Six months after she and Natsu had been reunited he'd surprised her by proposing. She'd already thought they were married by both dragon slayer law and the state. They'd filled out some paperwork when they'd returned and as far as Foire was concerned, they were Mr. and Mrs. Dragneel. She'd accepted of course, excited to actually be able to throw a wedding. It turned out that Natsu had found an old journal of hers and read about her big wedding dreams, so he decided to make those come true. He was adorable when he wanted to be.

Sighing now, Lucy decided that the loss of pay wasn't that it was that big a deal. They had moved into Natsu's house after they'd returned because it was rent free and they only had to pay for food and utilities. Also, it was far from everyone else, so as Gajeel loved to put it, they could be as loud as they wanted. They'd actually done a lot to the house in those two years. It had grown so that it now had two bedrooms, a nice sized kitchen, the perfect bathroom, and a sizeable living room. They often had visitors and Lucy was Levy and Gajeel's babysitter. Lucy smiled at the thought of their son. He was just perfect. Levy's blue hair, but Gajeel's rough and tumble attitude, even though he himself was just turning two. Levy was also expected a second one, though this fact was not well known. In fact the only reason she knew was because Natsu's nose had picked up on it. Levy had told her of course, but after Natsu had spilled the beans.

As the train pulled into the station, Lucy's fond memories turned dark. Seeing Levy with her own child increased her desire for one. Not that she wanted one right that second. It was nice, it just being Natsu and her, but she often wondered why she and Natsu weren't pregnant yet. According to Levy, she'd been using a birth control charm when she'd gotten pregnant the first time. Elated, but surprised, Levy did some digging and found that all the research showed that something about dragon slayers pretty much nullified any and all birth control charms or potions. Lucy had even stopped using them since it would seem that it would be a waste of money. It had been a little over two years now and still no child. This lead Lucy to wonder if there something wrong with her?

"What's wrong Luce?" Natsu asked, taking her hand in his as they made their way back home. Normally, they'd stop by the guild and inform the master how it had gone, but it was late and they really didn't feel like telling him that he'd have to write another apology letter.

"Nothing."

Natsu stopped her and pulled her close, touching his forehead with hers. "Can't you tell me Lucy? We promised." Yeah, they had that first week of being proper mates. They'd promised to tell each other all their problems and concerns.

"I just wonder if there is something wrong with me, Natsu."

"What? Why? Are you sick?"

"No, but well, Levy and Gajeel are pregnant again and Levy says that birth control doesn't work on dragon slayers. So, I'm just wondering why we haven't gotten pregnant yet."

Natsu pulled back and looked at her seriously. "Do you want to get pregnant, Lucy?"

"No. Maybe. Yeah ... kind of. Not right this second. It's just, well ... we have sex a lot."

Natsu grinned at that and pulled her closer. "That we do."

"But," Lucy continued, before he could follow his thoughts, "sex leads to babies Natsu. I'm just wondering why there hasn't been the obvious consequence of our actions yet."

"Oh, well that I can answer." Natsu said, taking her hand and leading towards their home.

"You can?"

"Yeah. Igneel failed to inform me of a lot. But he did tell me once that the reason dragons and thus dragon slayers seemed to have few children and so far in between was because a dragon slayer and their mate won't have a child until the perfect time. Basically, until your right stuff and my right stuff are in sync, it won't happen."

"But how does that make sense to Gajeel and Levy?"

"Well, Igneel also told me that the stronger the dragon slayer, the harder to start a pregnancy. It would seem that I'm much stronger than Gajeel." Lucy smiled and although she was seriously wondering if Igneel was full of it, it did make her feel oddly better.

"I guess that makes a weird sort of sense."

"Well, you're a weird sort of girl, so it fits." Lucy promptly hit up upside the head and stormed off towards their house. She missed the smirk he gave after complaining loudly. He always enjoyed their little sparing matches.

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Late one night, not long after their conversation, a spark, a light of sorts, started deep inside Lucy. While she and Natsu slept, it grew in strength and blossomed. Lucy smiled in her sleep, not knowing why but just feeling the happiest she ever had.

Natsu's smile came the next morning as he woke first, breathing in her scent as he did every morning. He suddenly found himself almost stuck to her. Her smell was so alluring. She smelled better than she ever had. What was this? Suddenly he knew. He'd smelled it on Levy before, but then it had made him stay away, not draw him in. He smiled down at his still sleeping mate and kissed her.

"Natsu," she complained softly, "what is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing at all. I just feel like all this stuff has finally gone right."


End file.
